


Kunoichi to Huntress

by JuliaDarkness



Series: Warriors of Worlds [1]
Category: RWBY, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Interstellar travel, Literary References & Allusions, Multi, My first FanFic here, School Musical, Some angst, Strong Female Characters, Weiss singing, preslash, some snark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 17:32:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 56,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6338599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuliaDarkness/pseuds/JuliaDarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As seen on fanfiction.net<br/>After learning the truth about her past, Karai escapes to Remnant and enrolls at Beacon. Now for the first time in her life, she's a teammate, a friend, perhaps even a sister. But something sinister is happening in Vale. And Karai is going to learn that the past isn't easy to run from. .  .</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An interesting year

Okay, so, landing strategy.

Violet flew through the air, coming down to the tops of the trees. She grabbed onto the nearest branch, swung a full circle around it, then flew off to grab a lower branch on the next tree. In a minute she landed on the ground, pirouette style.

Violet got up and looked around. No one landed near her. She took out her whip and started walking.

The late summer sun shone through the green leaves. A few birds chirped in the trees. As she walked she heard gunfire in the distance. Some students must have already spotted Grimm. She hiked up a small hill. The bushes clawed at her dress.

Violet stopped in a small clearing. A girl stood facing away from her, with short black hair and wearing a black suit with silver armor. She held a sword in one hand. The other hand rested on her hip. She turned around before Violet could say something. Her brown eyes quickly scanned Violet over, pausing a second on her whip. Her mouth twitched into the tiniest of grins. Violet didn't know what was so damn funny.

"Hi. My name's Violet."

The girl hesitated, then looked her in the eye.

"I'm Karai." She shook her hand. She had a strong grip.

"Well, I think the temple's this way." Violet pointed to a nearby cliff.

"Lead the way." She had teasing, almost flirting way about her. The girls started walking, but they only reached the edge of the clearing when a big Ursa jumped out from behind a bush. It roared and charged at them.

The girls each jumped to one side. Violet grabbed her whip. "I got-"

Karai threw a throwing star in the monster's eye. It screamed, then ran at her. She summersaulted out of the way. The Ursa turned, but before it could swing its paw Karai threw a knife in the center of its chest. The monster froze for a moment, then fell forward.

"Thanks, but I'll take it from here." Karai sauntered over to the dead Ursa and crouched down to pick up her knife when a second Ursa ran forward straight at her. Before she could move Violet back flipped onto its back and shot the monster in the neck using the gun in the handle of her whip.

Karai blinked. "Not bad," she said, one eyebrow raised, as if surprised.

Violet smiled. "Not bad yourself. Although your form could use a bit of work." With that she marched ahead, not pausing to look back at what she knew was a rather miffed expression.

It was going to be an interesting year.

* * *

 

Mona Lisa was getting bored.

She had been wandering around for almost 20 minutes. She hadn't found the temple, or a partner, or even a Grimm to entertain her. If she wanted to look at trees all day she could have stayed home. She sighed. Maybe no one wanted to work with a fanus.

She heard rustling in the trees and looked up. A small Beowolf landed at her feet, dead. A girl jumped down from the branches. She had shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes, and wore a light blue Lolita dress with white petticoats. Her knee length boots were white, with a blue star on each. A tiny blue to hat was pinned to her hair.

The girl tilted her head and smiled. "Wow. I didn't even know Beowolves could climb trees, you know? We didn't even start school yet and here we are, already learning something. Oh, I'm Sapphire." She curtsied.

"Mona Lisa. I'm-Wait, you were in the tree this whole time?"

"My hat was stuck in a branch. And then the Beowolf showed up. Oh, and I found the temple. It's this way." She swung a silver staff, almost knocking Mona Lisa over.

"Oops, sorry." She pointed the staff to her left. "Let's go."

Mona Lisa grinned. Well, this was going to be an interesting year.

* * *

 

Karai studied the girl in front of her. Violet was a little on the small side, with green eyes and copper hair done up in a bun with a loose strand curling around each ear. She had on a very short purple dress over a white shirt. Black ankle boots and a black belt to hold her whip completed the outfit. She kind of looked like a stripper impersonating a school girl. The whip only made it more dominatrix-ish. Cultural differences, or whatever.

They had been hiking for nearly 10 minutes when they got to the edge of the cliff. Before them were the ruins of what looked to be a miniature Stonehenge. The girls climbed down. Small columns made a circle at the edge of the ruins. Chess pieces sat on top of them.

Violet went in a circle to examine the artifacts. Karai looked around the ruins. It looked like some sort of ritual was practiced here a long time ago. It must have been abandoned because of the Grimm.

Karai picked up a black queen. She turned around and saw Violet was holding a white queen.

"We're going with this one," she said.

"Why?"

"Because in chess the white side makes the first move. And I want to be one step ahead."

Karai rolled her eyes but put the piece down.

* * *

 

As the girls looked around the ruins, Sapphire looked back at Mona Lisa. Her brown curly hair was tied in a high pony tail that reached to her waist. She had green eyes and a farmer's tan. She had on a yellow waist length top edged in amber, with a little window to show off her cleavage. It set off her blue jeans and brown belt. A green lizard tail stuck out of her pants. Her weapon, a mace-gun, was strapped to her belt. It looked high tech.

Sapphire picked up a white queen. She didn't play chess, but it looked pretty. "How about this?"

Mona Lisa shrugged. "Yeah, whatever."

Sapphire tossed the queen in the air and caught it. That was easy. As Sapphire hiked back up the hill, she noticed two other girls coming down the other side. Sapphire thought she recognized one of them from Signal-Yang, was it?

* * *

 

Violet grabbed a rock sticking out of the ledge with her whip. She pulled herself up, then latched onto one. Karai climbed bare handed and was a few feet ahead of her. Suddenly they heard a high pitched scream in the distance. The girls looked back, then at each other.

"Should we go and help," Violet asked.

Karai shrugged. "Someone closer will probably handle it before we get there." She kept on climbing. Violet paused for a moment, then continued climbing too.

"At this rate we'll reach the top in a few minutes," Violet said.

"I'm not too sure about that," Karai said.

"Why not?"

Karai pointed up. At the top of the cliff was a giant King Taijitu.

The King Taijitu lunged at the girls. It was twice as big as an ordinary one. Rocks were pushed aside with its tail, creating a mini avalanche. Karai lost hold of her grip. She fell back, screaming. Violet grabbed her hand. She pushed off the side of the cliff. Freefalling, she used her whip to grab onto the branch of a nearby tree. She swung them out of the way of the snake. The girls landed in the forest. The King Taijitu shot down the side off the cliff.

"Run," Violet screamed. The girls took off into the forest.

* * *

 

"I think we'll be there in a few minutes," Mona Lisa said.

"I wonder who our teammates will be."

"Hopefully not annoying." Mona Lisa swung her mace to clear away some branches.

"Why do you think we haven't seen any monsters yet?"

Mona shrugged. "Eh, the other students probably killed them all already."

Suddenly the girls heard screaming. The trees in front of them began shake.

"Never mind, then." Without looking at each other, Mona Lisa grabbed her gun and Sapphire her staff. They stood battle ready.

Violet and Karai came running out of the brush. Violet tripped. Karai grabbed her hand and tried to pull her up when a giant King Taijitu burst out of the trees. Mona Lisa aimed at the creature's eye and fired. It dodged the attack, then charged at her. Sapphire pushed her to the ground. She grabbed her staff and waved it like a wand. Stones from the nearby temple came crashing in, pounding the King Taijitu to the ground. It groaned. The white side of the Grimm rose, fangs barred.

"Hey!"

The snake turned around. Vienna cracked her whip. Lightning shot from the rope, sending a wave of sparks through the air. The white snake snapped back. The black snake got up. Both growled at Vienna.

"Karai, the eyes."

Karai threw throwing stars at the black snake's eye. They pierced both its eyeballs. It screamed. Mona Lisa fired from behind. The black side fell over.

The white side howled. It lunged at Violet, but she summersaulted out of the way. She ran behind the snake and used her whip as a lasso, grabbing it by the throat.

"You two, help me hold it," she yelled to Karai and Mona Lisa. The girls ran over and grabbed onto the whip.

"Aim for its head," she yelled as the white snake began to pull against the makeshift leash.

Sapphire pulled out an arrow from her boot. Her staff collapsed into a bow. She pulled the string tight. The arrow flew into the monster's neck. Then it started glowing. Bright light burned the Grimm's flesh like a poisoned halo. The monster roared at Sapphire. It swung its tail, slamming Sapphire against a tree. She slumped against the trunk.

"Sapphire!" Mona Lisa screamed.

Violet turned to her. "Fire at the base of its head."

Mona let go of the whip. The monster pulled, sending the girls flying. Hissing, it-

BOOM!

A white light shot out at the base of the King Taijitu's head. Its neck snapped, and it fell over dead.

Violet and Karai lay on the ground.

"You okay," Violet asked.

"Yeah, are you?"

"Fine."

They slowly got up, their muscles protesting every movement. Mona Lisa pulled Sapphire to her feet and grinned..

"Well, that was a thing."

* * *

 

"Mona Lisa Marigold, Violet Goodwitch, Tang Karai, Sapphire Star. The four of you retrieved the white queen pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team VKSM (vixen). Led by: Violet Goodwitch." The auditorium cheered.

"I won't you down sir." The girls stood there a moment, hands behind their back, before walking off stage. They stood by the fire exit to get their room assignment from Professor Peach. Then they went back to their seats to watch the rest of the teams go up. Violet leaned back in her seat and smiled. She had hoped to be leader. And her team wasn't half bad. And judging the way Mona Lisa and Sapphire were whispering they were already on their way to becoming friends. Violet smiled, then shushed them. Karai was quiet, watching the stage intently.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xio Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as: Team RWBY. Led by: Ruby Rose."

Karai couldn't help but smile at the expression on Weiss' face.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an. . . interesting year."


	2. The first day

_She was in the turtles' dojo. Light shone from between the leaves of the tree. Old rugs in warm hues overlapped on the floor. He stood in front of her._

_He held out the picture frame. She saw an old black and white photograph. There was her mother, holding her as a baby. Standing next to them was a man. But he wasn't. . ._

_She looked up at him. She could see tears forming in his eyes. Her mouth opened, and she struggled to find the word._

_"Fa-"_

"Wake up everybody!"

Karai nearly fell out of her bed. She was in the dorm room they were assigned yesterday. Mona Lisa was still asleep. Sapphire sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. Violet stood in the center of the room, already dressed in Beacon's uniform. She covered her mouth to hide a laugh as she watched Karai struggle for balance.

"What time is it," Sapphire yawned.

Violet pulled out her scroll. "7:09."

"7?" Karai sat up. "Our first class is at 9 and you got us up at 7?!"

"We have to unpack and everything." Violet smiled. "Plus this is a good time to get to know each other."

Karai lay back down and pulled the blanket over her head. "I'll unpack later." Violet yanked back the covers. She pulled Karai up to a sitting position.

"Look, we'll have enough time to stop for coffee. Come on, get up." Karai groaned, but got out of bed. Sapphire was already changing into her uniform. Mona Lisa was still snoring.

Violet went over and shook her. "Hey, Mona Lisa?" Mona Lisa blinked. "Morning."

Mona Lisa took out her ear plugs and yawned. "What time is it?"

"7," Karai said. "She got us up at 7."

"Only for today."

Karai grabbed a uniform out of her suitcase and headed for the bathroom. First day and here she was, already contemplating mutiny. Grandmother would not be pleased.

_"I am not. Your. DAUGHTER!"_

_Shredder said nothing, shutting the door behind him as he left._

_Karai slumped to the ground. Where was Leo and the others? Why didn't they hurry up and rescue her?_

_Why_ would _they rescue her? She tried to kill them and their father-her father, her own father-plus she beat up their best friend. April. Who would want her for a sister or daughter when they could have April?_

_Suddenly there was an explosion upstairs. The whole building began to shake. Karai could hear Footbots running upstairs. Too bad her wrists were chained or she could have used the chaos to escape._

_"Witch, witch, the woman is a witch!" Xever screamed, running through the corridor. "Dear God-agh!" She could see Xever thrown against a wall, but she couldn't see who threw him. Tiger Claw roared, and was thrown back against her cell door. She jumped back in time to avoid it falling on her._

_Standing before her was a silver haired woman. Although she was Asian, she had blue eyes. She wore a purple robe with embroidery that seemed to woman waved her arm, and a puff of smoke shot out. Karai started coughing, and felt her knees buckle. The woman caught her before she fell._

_"Who. . . who are you," Karai asked as she drifted into unconsciousness. The woman smiled at her._

_"I'm your Grandmother."_

"Karai, quit taking up all the hot water," Mona Lisa yelled. She pounded on the door.

"Coming." Karai quickly finished showering and dried off. She put on her uniform, including the optional tights, and looked at herself in the mirror. Grandmother insisted that her punk haircut would attract attention, although Karai suspected that she just didn't like it. So now she had a flapper-ish bob. She was too tired to deal with make up or earrings. In fact she hadn't worn them in weeks. Karai put a hand on her hip and glared at her reflection.

"Karai!"

Karai finished getting ready and opened the door. Mona Lisa pushed past her, muttering some four-letter words. Sapphire was putting up a poster for some band called "Achieve Men."(Not like she need it, considering the four posters she had already.) Violet was putting books on the shelves. Karai got out her clothes from her suitcases and began to hang them up in one of the closets.

"So, where are you guys from," Violet asked.

"I'm from Vale, the city," Sapphire said as she took out a picture from her bag. "My parents live nearby."

"I'm from Vale, too." Violet finished arranging the books (no doubt organized in some alternate Dewey Decimal System). She grabbed some notebooks and started filling her lavender backpack.

"Isn't your mom the vice principal?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Cool." Sapphire took out some pictures and taped them up. "What about you, Karai?"

Karai didn't look up from her dresser as she folded up clothes. "I was raised outside the kingdoms."

"Hey, aren't you Professor Tang's long lost granddaughter?"

Karai still didn't look up. "Yeah. My parents died when I was a baby, and I was raised in an orphanage."

"Doesn't that mean you're related to—"

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Violet said. She zipped up her backpack

"Yeah, sorry."

"Forget it, it's fine."

Mona Lisa came out of the bathroom in a bathrobe. "What time is it?"

Violet checked her scroll. "8:23."

"Cool." Mona Lisa grabbed a uniform out of her suitcase and headed back into the bathroom.

"Hey Mona," Sapphire asked, "Where are you from?"

"A village in Vale. My parents own a small farm."

"Cool."

Violet tugged down on her skirt and adjusted her knee socks, then looked over each of her teammates. Sapphire had thankfully given up trying to convince her to let her wear her hat with her uniform. Mona Lisa was ready, they headed out.

Down the hall the girls heard some loud banging coming from one of the rooms. It sounded like construction work. Or really disturbing sex.

After getting coffee, they arrived early at Professor Port's Grimmology 101. He was by the front, setting up a crate. Students trailed in, talking about class schedules and yesterday's team assignments. Violet, Mona Lisa and Sapphire took some seats near the front. Karai wanted to sit in the back by herself, but Sapphire grabbed her arm and sat her down between her and Mona. Right before class began, two teams ran in and grabbed seats in the front. Karai looked at team RWBY for a moment, then looked down at her class schedule, as if she wasn't sure she was in the right place.

"See," Violet said. "Aren't you glad we got up early?"

"No," the rest of her team said in unison.

As Professor Port took attendance, everyone got out notebooks and binders. The sound of paper rustling filled the room. "Monsters, demons, prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names. But I merely refer to them as prey. Ha Ha."

Silence.

Professor Port continued. "And you shall too upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now as I was saying, Vale, along with the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world."

_"So if they're called kingdoms, how come you don't have any kings?"_

_Karai and her grandmother sat across from each other on her terrace overlooking the ocean. It was a week after she had been brought to Vale. The mid-summer sun shone on the water below._

_"There used to be kings, but that ended about a century and a half ago. Now we have councils, but since they meet in former palaces we decided to keep the name. You're actually descended from royalty."_

_"Seriously?" Heir to a ninja clan was one thing, but a whole country?_

_"Yes. My mother, your great-grandmother, was the granddaughter of the last king of Vale, King Arthur V. I think one of the teachers at Beacon is descended from the royal family of Atlas, too."_

_"What about my grandfather?"_

_"No, he was a commoner. He was also a Huntsman, a very good one. We were on the same team, you know."_

_"Too bad he died before I was born."_

_"He would have been so happy that you're home now."_

_Karai looked down at her teacup. Home was a loaded word. Especially since it was a place she didn't even know existed until a week ago. They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the streets and the waves._

_"Have you given Beacon anymore thought," Grandmother finally asked. Karai looked at her. It felt so strange, calling this woman grandmother. She had the same ears, the same hands. They liked the same tea. But still, she had only just met her._

_"I don't know. I mean, I'm only 16."_

_"I work with people your age everyday who know what they want to do."_

_"But what about my . . . father, my. . ." She couldn't bring herself to say the word "brothers."_

_Grandmother put down her cup and sighed. "Karai, listen to me. You were brought up in the center of a centuries old blood feud. If you go back to New York, you'll just be on the opposite side. Are you just going to spend the rest of your life living in a sewer, passing senseless violence to another generation?" She reached across the table and took her hands. "Your mother would have wanted better for you."_

_"But what about the Shredder? He has to pay."_

_"And he will. I will make sure of that. A group of Huntsman and Huntresses are going to New York again in a few months. I'll make sure justice is done, don't worry."_

_"Why are they going back?" Grandmother smiled. "It's classified, I'm afraid." She got up and went over to the edge of the terrace, looking at boats passing over the water. "Do you see how peaceful it is? How safe it all seems? It takes special people, people with potential, to maintain this peace." She turned back to Karai. "You have the potential, Karai. Don't waste it. You are so much more than what you have been."_

_Karai got up and leaned over the railing. She stared at the water. Her grandmother put a hand on her shoulder. The two women stood in silence for a minute._

_Her supposed clan had locked her away._

_Her true clan wanted nothing to do with her._

_Maybe it was time to find a new one._

_"Well then," Karai said. "I guess you have a lot to teach me."_

_She turned and smiled. "More than you could imagine."_

"Bravo. Bravo. It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training."

Weiss stood panting over the Grimm corpse. Despite the noise, Mona Lisa had somehow managed to fall back asleep. Violet shoved her and she snapped back awake.

"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned reading. And stay vigilant. Class dismissed."

After that Karai and Violet went to history with Dr. Oobleck. He was wearing mismatched shoes, a crocked tie and his hair looked like someone used a leaf blower to dry it. He was, as the guy who sat next them said, someone who could give warm milk insomnia.

"We are going to cover the history of Remnant from the rise of the four kingdoms to the development of the current politics every month there will be a test covering material in class and the reading assignments now then please take out a pen and copy the outline for the week."

Students tried desperately to keep up as Dr. Oobleck ran around the room, giving his lecture at breakneck speed. Karai wrote so fast she broke her pencil. She barely knew the basics of Remnant's history as it is. Whatever was in that coffee was so not helping.

The most memorable part of the day was in Weapon Mechanics class, when some girl named Nora somehow managed to blow up a railgun in five minutes. Professor Menlo seemed to take it in good humor, though. Apparently she had three extra.

By the time her last class ended Karai was exhausted. She went to school for a couple of years to learn how to socialize, but for the most part she had private tutors. Now she was surrounded by kids her own age. Kids who didn't seem the least bit scared of her. It was weird, and kind of annoying when she wanted alone time.

_Karai held the crystal in her hand. It felt warm, alive. She spun her arm in front of her before releasing it. The basement filled with a strong wind, scattering books like rose petals. Her grandmother watched the chaos and smiled._

_"You have a knack for it, darling."_

_Karai grinned. This power, her Aura, it all felt so . . . familiar._

_It felt right._

"Hey Karai," Violet whispered quietly as she stepped out of the bathroom. Mona Lisa and Sapphire were already asleep. Karai was hunched over her history textbook, taking notes.

"Yeah?"

"If you're struggling with history or anything, I could help. I mean, you seemed a bit confused."

"I'm fine."

"Okay." Violet sat down on her bed and pulled out a textbook. "And about this morning . . . we didn't mean to pry. But if you ever want to talk about anything, you can talk to me." She crawled into bed. Karai put away her textbook and headed to the bathroom. She paused at the door.

"Violet?"

"Yes?" She looked up at her expectantly. "I'm . . . not really good about saying thank you."

"Well, practice makes perfect."

Karai looked down, but she could still feel her gaze. She took a deep breath. "Well, then. . . thanks."

Violet smiled. "You're welcome. Sweet dreams."

_She was in the ballroom, the one they slept in their first night. The chandeliers were alight and room was filled with well-dressed strangers. At the center was Weiss, in a white Cinderella ball gown._

_She turned to Karai and smiled. "You look beautiful."_

_Karai looked down. She had on the same dress, but black._

_She looked back up and smiled. "So do you, oneesan."_


	3. Hopes and fears

"I can't believe it's been about two months since we got here," April wrote in her journal. "We still don't know if Leo will wake up or if Master Splinter's really dead. We don't know if Casey's family is okay. We don't have any idea where Karai is. What we do know is that my dad's a mutant-again- and New York has been taken over by the Kraang. Honestly, it's a little hard to feel hopeful right now.

April looked up. She was outside on the bench swing. From there she could see Mikey. He had on an old farmer's and called the chickens by the names he made up. He smiled and started throwing feed on the ground. Mikey had never even seen a chicken up close before he came here. All the turtles had been a bit in awe of the farm and the woods. It was nice that they got to experience that at least.

Suddenly April heard an explosion in the barn, followed by arguing. She rolled her eyes and continued writing.

"I'm getting better at ninjitsu, though. Not a full on kunoichi yet, but I'm making progress. Who knows, maybe the next time I'm in a fight I'll be something more than a stupid damsel in distress."

* * *

 

Sapphire came out of the dressing room wearing a blue evening dress. She spun around. "Well, what do you think," she asked.

Violet tilted her head. "I like the other one better." Mona nodded.

Sapphire looked in the mirror. "Yeah, you're right." She went back in to change into her regular clothes.

Karai was wandering in front of the store. During the first weekend of school, a lot of teams decided to do some group bonding. Team VKSM opted to have a day on the town. Grandmother was pleased to hear that she was going shopping and gave her extra money. She said she needed clothes, but Karai knew that she was hoping that she would pick things a little less, what's the word, "unkempt." It's true, she needed new clothes. But fighting in skirts and stilettos wasn't exactly her style.

She still couldn't believe she was actually here, with her own team. It all had felt a bit surreal. She heard it usually takes about two weeks to feel at home somewhere. Maybe next week she would remember what room her Grimmology class was in without checking her schedule.

She looked at the other three girls sitting in the back. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she hung out with girls her own age like this. Sapphire had kept trying on dresses and twirling around like she didn't have a care in the world. Mona and Violet, while not as girly, seemed to really be enjoying themselves. They all seemed like regular girls, sweet, nice girls.

The type of girls that never wanted anything to do with her.

Sapphire came out of the stall, wearing her normal clothes. She sat down next to Mona Lisa, who was checking her scroll for messages from her siblings. She had only gotten some blue jeans. Sapphire liked her partner. She was kind of blunt, but honest. Plus her weapon was awesome. Sapphire was never good at weapon mechanics at Signal, which is why Jaberwacke was a basically a stick and some string. But a mace and a gun? Now that was cool.

Karai didn't really seem used to shopping with friends. Then again, they probably didn't have malls in the little village she came from. But for a girl raised in a little orphanage, she seemed awfully self-assured. They all seemed self-assured, really. Maybe because they were better fighters.

Violet gestured to the cash register. "Ready to go?" The other girls nodded, and grabbed their stuff. Violet had found a couple of button up blouses. The kind her mom wears. Tsk tsk. This girl needed some help, big time.

* * *

 

Casey used a slingshot to launch rocks at Mikey. He swung his nunchucks and blocked them, before running up behind Casey and jumping on top of him. They fell to the ground, laughing. Raph disarmed Donnie with his sai and flipped him over to the ground.

"Guys," April called from the porch. "Lunch."

Donnie sat up, rubbing his shell. Raph took his hand and helped him stand up. The boys ran inside and sat down in the dining room. Mikey set the table and April brought out a large pot of macaroni and cheese.

"You know, it's been almost two months since we got here," Donnie said as he helped serve everyone.

"Leo's gonna wake up any day now, right Donnie," Mikey asked.

Donnie looked at him and sighed. "I hope so, Mikey."

"How's the mutagen medicine coming along," April asked.

"You heard the explosion, right?" Casey took a big bite of macaroni. He noticed Raph was quiet. "Dun wurrie Rawph." He swallowed. "It'll all work out."

"Yeah," Raph said. He looked down at his bowl.

"Anyway," April said, "we need to run to the store tomorrow."

"I'll come," Donnie said.

"Great."

* * *

 

"Welcome to Tukson's book trade, Home to every book under the sun."

If they were on Earth, Karai would have made a Wolverine joke. The book store owner looked like Hugh Jackman's older brother. "

Can I help you find anything," he asked her.

"Um, where's the sci fi section?"

"Over there," Tukson pointed to a shelf near the back.

Karai glanced over the titles. No Attack on Titan, but there was some good stuff. As she passed her finger over the shelf, she came across an old, worn book. It must have been placed there by accident. Karai pulled it from the shelf. "Roses and Thorns: a Collection of Fairytales." It looked like the book of shadows from Charmed. Karai flipped to a page at random.

_The Lost Princess_

_Long ago, the king and queen of Avalon prayed to the moon for a child. Finally, they had a daughter named Anastasia. She was blessed with beauty, grace and the voice of an angel. The whole kingdom rejoiced._

_But an evil sorcerer who hated the royal family snuck into the castle at night and stole the little princess away. She was raised apart from her family, not knowing who she was. . ._

Karai flipped the book shut and added it to her pile.

Violet glanced up from the copy of Jonathan Steel's "Theories of Warfare" and headed to the counter. Mona Lisa went to look at graphic novels and Karai was in the back, flipping through some detective novel. Sapphire stood at the front, reading the back of "Ninjas of Love." Violet fought the urge to comment. She was happy they liked her suggestion to go to the bookstore. She knew she seemed like a bit of a control freak. She didn't want to look like a nerd too.

* * *

"I honestly don't know if you can hear me. Donnie said that people in comas can be called out of it by hearing their families. But I've been talking every day." 

Raph sighed. He looked at his brother's unconscious body. He listened to his steady breath. 

"We've never been separated for more than a few hours before. Our family, the five of us, has always been together. And now Splinter. . . " 

Raph groaned. "It's not fair. None of this is fair." He stood up and paced the tiles floors. "We can't live normal lives, we have to hide in the shadows, and now we can't even have our older brother or sensei with us. It's not fair!" 

He heard a knock on the door. April opened the door. "Hey, I heard a bit of yelling. You okay?" 

Raph sighed. "Yeah, fine." 

April walked in and closed the door. "Do you want to talk about it?" 

"No." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Raph. I have a feeling it's all going to be alright. And I'm psychic, remember?" 

Raph gave a tiny smile. "Thanks April. 

"No problem." She turned to go. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here, okay. We're here." 

She left, closing the door behind her. Raph sat back down at his post and resumed his watch.

* * *

 

The team chose to eat outside at a small, old café for lunch. Even though it was Saturday, it wasn't crowded. They could see the waterside from their seats. 

Mona Lisa took a sip of her water. So far today no one had given her dirty look or said anything. The bookstore guy even had a copy of Mutant League # 37. It was a good day. She was even happy about her teammates. Sure, her leader was wound tighter than a watch with OCD, no doubt because of her mother. Her partner was kind of a ditz, although Mona Lisa sensed some hidden depth. And it was pretty obvious that Karai was hiding a dark, troubled and soap opera-y past (complete with a long lost sister that probably was better off lost). Still, they seemed like decent people. Hell, she could have ended up with Cardin Winchester. Or that weird girl who blew up the railgun. 

"So," Violet said, "why did you guys want to become Huntresses? Sapphire, you said you went to dance school growing up." 

"Yeah, my mother was a dancer. She actually danced with the Mistral Blossoms." 

"Damn," Mona said. 

"Yeah. I was going to do that too. But when I was 14 my twin brother was killed in a Grimm attack while travelling to Vacuo." 

"I'm so sorry," Mona Lisa said. 

"Thanks. So anyway, I decided to become a Huntress as a way to honor him. And so that maybe just one other person wouldn't lose a loved one." She paused to sip from her tea cup. 

"But just because I'm a Huntress doesn't mean I still can't dance every now and then." She smiled. "Actually, if it's alright with you I was thinking of installing a small bar in our room, to practice." The girls nodded. 

Mona Lisa cleared her throat. "Well, like I said I'm from a small farm, in a small village. It was nice, but I didn't want to stay there forever. The town sheriff was a friend of my parents. He noticed early on that I had a lot of potential and took me under his wing. I liked fighting. I applied to Beacon, got in, and here I am." 

Karai watched the water as the other girls talked. "It was really more of an impulse for me. My grandmother teaches at Signal and thought it would be good for me to come here. Besides," she paused to take a sip of tea, "I was trained how to fight. I might as well put it to good use." 

Violet cleared her throat. "Well for me it didn't really involve much thought. I always wanted to be a Huntress. I guess growing up the daughter of a Huntress, it was bound to happen."

"But why here? I mean, why didn't you go to school in Atlas or somewhere? Isn't weird that your mom is your teacher," Sapphire asked.

"My mom has always been my teacher. And she wants me to take over for her when she retires. It's only fitting I go here." Violet took a deep breath and quickly said "I don't know who my father is. My mother never told me anything about him. But I know that as a Huntress he'd be proud of me." 

The waiter came with their order, and the girls dug into their lunch. It was quiet for a minute. Mona Lisa studied her teammates as they were eating. They had depths, sure, but her original assumptions weren't wrong. 

They were good people.

* * *

 

Mikey got into bed and laid next to Donnie. They hadn't shared a room in years. Mikey remembered Donnie comforting him when they were little and he had a nightmare. Once in a while they would go to Leo and Raph's room and all four of them would snuggle up together. 

He also remembered that Donnie snored. And still does. 

Donnie turned towards him in his sleep and wrapped his arms around Mikey like a teddy bear. Mikey buried his face in his brother's shoulder. 

Leo was going to be fine, he thought as he drifted off to sleep. Just fine. . .

* * *

 

The broken moon cast dark shadows over the city. It was starting to get a little cold. The girls walked back to their dorm, arms swinging shopping bags. 

"That waiter guy was cute," Sapphire said. Mona Lisa nodded. 

"I guess. I'm probably not a good judge since I only like girls." 

Karai turned around. "Wait, what?" 

"I like girls," Violet repeated. "Why?" 

"Oh, no reason." 

They passed by an alley way when they heard someone smashing glass. Three men in black clothes and red ties ran past them, carrying briefcases. 

"Hey, you stole my dust," a store clerk yelled. 

Karai unsheathed her sword and took off down the alley. 

"Wait!" Violet ran after her. Mona and Sapphire followed a few steps behind. 

The men ducked through an alley way leading to the docks. Karai threw a throwing star at one of the guy's briefcase, knocking it out of his hand. They turned around. One guy charged at Karai, who kicked him in the groin. Another tried to hold her, and Karai grabbed his arm, twisted him around and literally kicked his ass. Unfortunately for her, while she was fighting him the third guy grabbed a red gem from his briefcase and threw it at her. Karai felt something lasso around her waist and pull her away right before the red Dust exploded. The guys used the fiery cloud to cover their escape. 

Karai fell on the ground and looked up to see Violet standing over her. She offered a hand, but Karai ignored her. She got up and dusted herself off. 

" _What_ were you _thinking_? Do you realize how badly this could have ended?" 

"I'm sorry, isn't catching bad guys what we're supposed to do?" 

"Yeah, once we graduate. We're only a few weeks into our first semester." 

"So what, I should just let them get away?""

"They got away anyway! And no, you should wait for me to make the call. I'm the leader." 

Karai rolled her eyes. Violet put her hands on her hips and glared, vice principal style. "Don't you roll your eyes at me young lady."

_ "Young lady?" _

"Well, you are only 16." 

"How did you know that?" 

"It said so on the team file." 

"Guys," Mona said. She stepped for and placed a hand on Karai's shoulder. "Karai, look, we don't want you get hurt okay?" 

Karai brushed her hand away. "I handled worse." 

"We're a team," Sapphire said. "We handle things together." 

Karai looked at each girl. She sighed. "Alright, next time I won't go in alone."

"Promise," Violet asked. 

"Promise."

* * *

 

Cinder strutted across the empty warehouse floor, glass shoes clinking. The men stood before her, wearing identical business suits. 

"Preparations are going well," she said. "I trust you will keep up your end of the bargain?" 

"Kraang will keep that which is known as the bargain, one called Cinder." 

"Good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfic makes several allusions to the 20th century fox movie Anastasia, starting in this chapter. I don't own this movie, all rights go to 20th century fox.


	4. Rivalry

"For the last time, Yang, I don't need to break out of my shell. I don't even have a shell." Ruby was grabbing books from her desk and shoving them in her backpack at random. She stomped over to her closet, knowing without looking that Yang had her hands on her hips.

"Look, I'm just saying that you have some trouble with public speaking-"

"I speak while I'm in public all the time." Ruby grabbed her hood from its hanger and threw it on. She pulled the hood down low.

"You know what I mean. I think it could be fun." Yang sat down at her desk to adjust her sock. She looked over at Blake, who was going over her history textbook before class. She had been trying very hard to stay out of this conversation, and Yang respected her wishes.

"Then why don't you audition?" Ruby crossed her arms and glared at her sister.

"I am. And so's Weiss."

"Well, Weiss can actually sing. She's practicing singing right now, and she's been singing since like forever. So if she wants to go up in front of thousands of people who are all judging her, that's her choice." And with that Ruby grabbed her backpack and ran out of the room.

* * *

 

In class that day Dr. Oobleck started covering the Fanus war. Apparently there was racism everywhere. How quaint.

"Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Fanus population in menagerie." Dr. Oobeck sipped from his coffee cup and started darting around the room. "Now, while this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these were relatively recent events."

Karai scribbled furiously in her notebook. Even though there weren't Fanus on Earth, this lesson felt all too familiar, but not familiar enough for the test next week.

"Now which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?"

Weiss raised her hand. "The battle at Fort Castle." She smiled, a smug, know-it-all smile.

As Dr. Oobleck started lecturing Jaune Arc for not paying attention, Karai looked across the room. Weiss was writing something down in her notebook. Karai looked at her own disorganized notes and sighed. Weiss, to put it bluntly, was perfect. She was prettier than Karai, she was smarter than Karai, she was better at using Dust. Even if they had gotten along Karai would have felt jealous.

* * *

 

 

Ruby practically bolted out of her biology classroom, grateful that Yang wasn't as fast as her. Ruby ran down the hall and practically ran Weiss right over as she was signing her name on the poster.

"Ugh, Ruby, what is the matter with you?"

"Uh, nothing, sorry. I just wanted to avoid Yang."

"Why?" Weiss finished signing her name in neat cursive.

"She wants me to audition for the Vytal Festival Show. And well, I'm not really a performing type."

Weiss started strutting off to her next class. Ruby ran after her.

"Weiss, what do you think I should do?"

"I think that you should only audition if you're serious. We don't need slackers." Weiss turned the corner to her own biology class, and paused. "And Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

Weiss didn't turn around, but spoke over her shoulder. "I don't think you'd be that bad."

* * *

"Take a deep breath. Feel the power vibrate through you. Now strike the ground with the staff."

Karai hit the ground, and immediately a spark of fire burst out. It burned for a moment on the stone floor before sputtering out. She was in her grandmother's basement, practicing using raw dust. While better than guns, Karai still preferred her regular sword. She was a ninja, after all.

"Alright, we'll start with Aura after lunch," her grandmother said.

Karai started training with her Grandmother since she decided to attend Beacon. After she started classes, she still came to Grandmother's house every week for lessons, as well as to talk.

In the kitchen, Karai set the table while Grandmother took the casserole out of the oven. They sat down at an old round table covered in a silk table cloth.

"I can't believe you've already been at Beacon for three weeks already. The time just flies by." Grandmother served Karai. "Your mother would be so proud."

Karai smiled. "I got a 92 on my Grimmology test," she said.

Grandmother smiled. "Oh, that's great." She started cutting into her own food. "If you don't need it for studying, I could put it on the fridge."

Karai froze, her fork hovering in the air. "Seriously?"

"If that's okay with you."

Karai nodded. "Uh, yeah, okay. Sure." Karai dug into her own food. No one had ever put anything of her's on the fridge before.

Grandmother sighed. "I wish I could put your sister's tests up too." Weiss' father didn't want his daughter to talk to her grandmother very often.

Karai shrugged. Weiss wasn't exactly someone she felt sorry for.

" _Sister? Are you kidding me?! She is_ not _my sister."_

_Although the door was closed, Karai could hear the conversation through her thin walls._

" _Weiss, darling, I know this is a shock, but-"_

" _Shock? My mother's bastard child is alive and has been helping her murderer? I'm not shocked, I'm horrified!"_

_Karai sat down on the bed. She hugged her knees to her chest but she didn't cry._

" _Weiss Schnee, I will_ not _tolerate this kind of behavior."_

" _If Mother didn't run off and have her, she would still be here. She would still be alive."_

" _Karai did nothing wrong, and I will not have you make this situation worse for her. And your mother went to Earth for several reasons. Even if she didn't remarry, she still wouldn't have gone back to your father. You know that."_

" _I don't want to see her."_

" _Weiss-"_

" _I'm not going to pretend to like her. And I'm not going to talk to her."_

_Karai heard the open the front door and close. Her grandmother knocked._

" _Darling, are you alright?"_

" _I'm fine."_

" _Can I come in?"_

" _Really, I'm fine."_

_Grandmother opened the door. "Oh, darling." She sat next to her on the bed and put an arm around her. "It's okay."_

" _Seriously, I'm fine." She pushed her arm away._

" _Karai, listen to me." She took Karai's face in her hands and turned her to her. "What she said is. Not. True. Weiss had a difficult upbringing too, and she doesn't know how to relate to people well. She'll come around, trust me."_

Grandmother put a hand on Karai's shoulder.

"Soon, darling, soon."

* * *

"Alright students, who's next?"

Professor Goodwitch held up her tablet, going through the names. "Ms. Tang?"

Karai got up and went over to the arena. At least in combat class she could freaking hit something.

"And Ms. Nikos."

Pyrrha stepped forward. She unsheathed her spear and her shield in one move.

So this is the great Pyrrha Nikos, Karai thought. Well, let's see how great she is.

"Begin."

The girls ran towards each other, swords swinging. Pyrrha blocked her blow and tried to kick her legs out from under her. Karai jumped up, grabbing Pyrrha's shoulders and pulling her forward. She threw in a little jujekin, to no avail. Pyrrha began shooting her gun. Karai somehow managed to dodge the Dust bullets and threw two throwing stars at her. They should have hit, but they flew off in different directions. Karai threw another one, and it stuck in the ceiling. Pyrrha charged. Karai sheathed her sword, jumped over Pyrrha, land behind her. Before she could turn Karai squeezed her shoulder. Pyrrha gasped and her knees buckled. She feel to the ground in a kneeling position, gaping.

"And that's the match." Professor Goodwitch turned the light on. "Thank you ladies. Now, who's next?"

Karai and Pyrrha walked back to their seats. Around them, everyone starting whispering. Ms. Cereal Box beat by Ice Queen's mysterious long lost sister. How exciting.

"How did you do that," Mona Lisa whispered to Karai.

"Pressure point."

The next two students took the stage: Weiss and some boy. Karai couldn't help but smile when Weiss lost. Weiss walked back to her seat. As she sat down she turned her head in Karai's direction. They looked at each other for a second before both girls turned away.

"I guess someone's a little jealous," Mona Lisa muttered.

"Mona Lisa," Violet hissed from her seat in the next row.

Karai looked over at Weiss again. She was talking to her teammate, the blonde one, Yang. Yang put her hand on Weiss' shoulder, but she brushed her off. She crossed her arms, like a sulking child. Karai turned back to the conversation.

". . . excuse me, but aren't Huntresses supposed to be _observant_?"

Karai and Sapphire laughed. "It's okay. Hey Violet?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember when you said you'd help me in history? Does that offer still stand?"

"Of course. We'll study after dinner."

"Great." She paused, then half smiled, half grimaced. "Thanks."

"Class dismissed," Professor Goodwitch said.

* * *

Ruby watched as Weiss walked out of the locker room in a huff. Ruby knew she should find out why, and help. But right now she had bigger problems.

Yang had been bugging her all week about the auditions. She even called Dad and he said she should audition, too. Even just stage crew would be good, Yang said. Just something to help her build social skills more, get out of her comfort zone. Maybe she was right, but it the thought of that made her uncomfortable.

Ruby was so lost in her thoughts she nearly ran into Blake as she was leaving the locker room, knocking over her book bag. Books and notebooks spread across the floor.

"Oh, sorry Blake." Ruby quickly bent down to pick up the scattered books. Blake reached down to grab a couple.

"It's okay." Ruby handed her the books, and Blake actually smiled.

"Still thinking about the auditions?"

"Yeah. I just. . .I don't want people to think I'm awkward, or forget my lines or-"

"Ruby, if there's one thing I learned, it's that other people's thoughts alone can't hurt you." Blake tossed the books in her bag and threw it over her shoulder. "There's always going to be someone out there who's a jerk. You can't let that stop you." With that, Blake left the locker room.

* * *

In the locker room, Pyrrha came over to Karai. Karai knew her locker was on the other side of the room, so she must want something. Karai tensed her muscles and kept one hand near her sword.

"Hello again. Karai, is it?" Pyrrha stood next to the locker, seemingly at ease.

"Uh, yeah?"

"I just wanted to say good match. You are an exceptional fighter." She stuck out her hand.

Karai raised an eyebrow but returned the hand shake. "So are you. It's pretty clever of you, hiding your Semblance so people can't counterbalance it."

Pyrrha's jaw dropped open. "How did you know?"

"My throwing stars don't miss that often. Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret."

Pyrrha smiled. "Thank you." She turned to go back to her own locker. "Have a nice day."

"You too." Karai was never taught how to be a graceful loser, just not to lose. But she was beginning to notice that they seemed to do things differently here.

Karai's teammates were waiting by the door. She waved at them, saying she'd be there in a minute. She waited until they left before heading to the building where Oobleck's class was. Karai and walked right up to the Vytal Show sign-up sheet. It was a tradition that the school hosting the tournament performed a show to welcome the other schools. Karai vaguely recognized some of the names. Yang Xio Long, Coco Adel, Russel Thrush, Ruby Rose. Sapphire naturally signed up. Karai stood there for a minute, reading the information on the poster. Then she signed her name in big, messy letters.

"Weiss Schnee, you haven't seen jealousy yet."

 


	5. Midnight run

Vale was beautiful at night. There weren't obnoxiously bright lights or ads, but the buildings were still tall enough for a midnight run. Although at least Earth didn't have a broken moon. Apparently pieces broke off to make Dust, or some legend like that.

Karai jumped over an alleyway and did a backflip. Finally, she could have some alone time and some real exercise. She barely did any practicing this week outside of class. Yeah, Aura was important, but Karai didn't want to rely on it. She had to be able to fight using whatever she had on hand.

She was still a kunoichi.

After running through the governmental district, Karai headed to the docks. No matter what the city, the docks were where information was. What was being shipped and what was being smuggled, and by who, complete with a shady rendezvous, all laid out to see. When Karai lived in Hong Kong for a few months she often just took popcorn to a ledge and watched the drama when the Internet was down.

Karai landed on a large shipping crate and crouched down. For a few minutes she listened as some dock workers talked below. Other than some fabric from Mystral, nothing was being unloaded tonight. Karai waited for a few minutes before getting up. It was almost midnight anyway, and she had a test tomorrow.

Then, suddenly, Karai heard a noise she knew all too well.

"Kraang, this is the time that is the time to meet in this place."

"Kraang is correct."

She lay down flat and watched as three Kraang bots walk across the landing, lasers held across their metal chests. They stopped near the water.

Kraang. In Remnant. Invading Remnant. That didn't make any sense. Why would anyone want to invade a place filled with Grimm? What if it wasn't just the Kraang here? Could the Foot be here too? Lost in her thoughts, Karai was still alert enough to hear someone land on the crate beside her. She drew her sword and pounced, only to find herself holding a blade to Mona Lisa's throat.

"Damn, remind me never to throw you a surprise party." Karai released her. Mona Lisa rolled over to see the docks better. "So, what's going on?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Someone has to keep you out of trouble."

"Were you-were you following me?" She didn't hear anything on the way here.

"No, actually I just got here."

"How did you find me?"

"Hey, clairvoyance may not be as cool as teleportation or lightning, but it comes in handy sometimes."

Oh yeah. Semblance. A slew of Japanese curse words ran through Karai's head. Stupid super powers. And to top it all off she didn't even know what her power was yet.

"Kraang," a Kraang bot said. Karai crouched down next to Mona Lisa. "Check that which is known as a watch."

Mona Lisa's eyes widened "Whoa, are those aliens?"

Karai glared at her. "Whatever they are, I'll handle it."

"Are you freaking kidding me? You really think you can handle whatever this is by yourself?"

"I'm not jumping in this time. I'm watching."

"Great, so am I."

Karai growled but lay down next to her. The Kraang stood near their crate, facing away from them.

"So," Mona Lisa asked after a minute, "what do these Kraang want?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

A woman came out of the shadows across the landing. She was around 25, wearing a bright red mini dress with yellow designs on the sleeves. After living in Vale for almost five months Karai could tell that the dress was embedded with Dust.

She strutted over to the Kraang droids like the dock was a runway. It was dark and the woman's black hair covered part of her face. But her voice was loud and clear.

"Well, has it arrived?" "Kraang has the mutagen that has been promised by Kraang. It has been brought to the coordinates given to Kraang."

"Good. The Dust will be shipped to you this week." She turned to leave, but stopped. "Oh, and one more thing." The girls leaned forward. "Not a word of this to your associates."

"Kraang agrees with this request, one called Cinder." The woman walked away. The Kraang marched around the shipping crate.

"Let's go." Mona Lisa grabbed Karai's arm. "Before they see us."

The girls jumped off the crate and set off for home.

* * *

 

"Mirror, tell me something-"

"Weiss?"

Weiss opened her eyes and groaned. No one usually came to the old piano room. A little room in the clock tower, it held a piano, a few other instruments and some chairs arranged in a semi-circle. The sunrise gave the white walls an orange glow.

"What is it," she asked without turning around.

"I just wanted to know what you were doing." Ruby sat down in one of the chairs. "You're really good."

"I've been taking lessons since I was 6. I was my teacher's top student."

"Wow." Ruby leaned back in her chair. "Mind if I listen? I'm trying to decide what to sing."

Weiss sighed. "Alright, but be quiet. I need to concentrate."

Ruby nodded. Weiss set her scroll to start the music from the beginning and closed her eyes. She clasped her hands in front of her.

"Mirror, tell me something, tell me who's the loneliest of all?

Mirror, tell me something, tell me who's the loneliest of all?  
Mirror, what's inside of me; tell me can a heart be turned to stone?"

The music rose and fell, speeding up before hitting the lowest notes on the piano. The Weiss let out an unearthly half wail, half song, like a siren. The music picked back up, building tension until-

Mirror, mirror, what's behind you? Save me from the things I see.  
I can keep it from the world. Why won't you let me hide from me?  
Mirror, mirror, tell me something- who's the loneliest of all?  
I'm the loneliest of all."

Ruby jumped up and clapped. Weiss opened her eyes and curtsied.

"That was beautiful."

"I know."

"You're going to get in for sure."

"Of course I am." Weiss glanced down at her scroll, checking the time. "You and Yang might get a small role as well."

"I hope so. It'd be more fun if we both got scenes together. Maybe you and your sister will too."

"WHAT?"

Ruby stepped back, surprised by her venom. "Uh, you know, Tang Karai. She's your sister, right?"

"Half-sister." Weiss set down her scroll and clenched her fist. "I need to practice. Alone."

"Weiss, what's going on with-"  
"Alone."

Ruby headed back to their dorm room. She didn't know what was going on with Weiss and her sister. But as leader, she should probably find out.

Weiss unclenched her fist and sat down at the piano. What the hell made her so special? She was Grandmother's favorite after less than five months. (She herself couldn't remember the last time she spent Sunday at her house.) She had been Mother's favorite, too. She was more confident, more beautiful, more experienced at fighting than her. And now she was taking away singing?

Not if she could help it.

Weiss set down her scroll. As the music began, she closed her eyes and clasped her hands.

"Mirror, mirror. . . "

* * *

 

"The Kraang?"

Violet stood in front of them, arms crossed. It was around 8 am. She woke to half her team sneaking through the window going on about aliens. And she had a test later.

"They were these robots, with squishy pink things in them."

"They were aliens," Karai clarified.

"And they wanted Dust." Violet raised her eyebrows.

Mona Lisa shrugged. "Maybe they don't have Dust in their world. Plus haven't there been an increase in Dust robberies?"

"What did the robot alien thingies look like?" Sapphire sat on her bed, clutching her pillow.

"Oh they weren't that impressive. They moved kind of awkwardly. Something a teenager at a tech school could come up with, honestly. They talked weird though." Mona cleared her throat. "Kraang are in this place known as a dock with other Kraang," she said in a monotone voice.

Sapphire turned to Violet. "We should investigate."

"What?"

"She's right. Who knows what they're planning. Or what this Mutagen stuff is."

"Karai," Violet asked. Karai, who had been staring off into space, looked at her. "What do you think?"

"I think. . . I think that the Kraang need to be stopped. And I doubt the authorities are going to believe us."

"Besides, we are the authorities," Sapphire said. "Or going to be anyway."

Violet sighed. She was going to regret this.

"Alright. Let's go hunt some aliens."

* * *

 


	6. Breaking and entering

Violet stopped outside her mother's office and took a deep breathe before knocking. Her mother was at her desk, looking at her tablet. A small, neat pile of papers lay to the side. She looked up and smiled.

"Just one second Violet, I need to finish this up."

"Okay." Violet sat in a chair near the door. She looked around the room. Everything, from the large book shelves to the coat rack to the pens in the little clay jar Violet made when she was ten, were all arranged just so. She liked her mother's office. But today she felt the pictures of her grandparents glaring at her, the full weight of their stern disapproval condemning her to a life of unfilled dreams and prune juice.

Professor Goodwitch pulled up a chair beside her. She smiled at her daughter. "Relax Violet, you're not in trouble."

Violet smiled. "When do I ever get in trouble?"

"Exactly." Her mother kissed her forehead. "In fact, I asked you to come here because I wanted to say how proud I am of you."

Violet looked at her mother, surprised. "Really?"

"Yes. I'm proud of how well you're stepping up to be a leader."

"What do you mean?"

"You've really helped your team to flourish. You know that the girls on your team can be a bit of a handful. And they're all doing well in school, staying out of trouble. I'm really impressed."

"Uh, yeah. I try."

"Remember that as a leader, it is your job to look after your team, not just in battle but in school and in life."

"I will." Violet nodded. She tried to smile, and knew it probably came out more like a grimace and prayed her mother didn't notice. When she got back to her room she was going to give the others Hell for putting her in this position.

"But also don't forget that you can rely on them too." She put her hand on her daughter's knee. "And me. So don't think you're carrying this burden alone."

"Th-thanks, Mom."

"I just want you to know I'm here for you." She sighed. "And that. . . you're almost 18."

"I know. I'm counting the days."

"Violet-"

"I just want to know him, Mom. Do you know what it's like to not know anything about my father?"

Her mother sighed. "I know, Violet."

"You promised."

"I know I did. When you turn 18 I'll tell you everything."

Violet hugged her mom. "Thank you. I Love you, Mom."

Her mother hugged her back. "I love you too."

* * *

 

The lock on the door of Professor Ozpin's office jiggled. The doorknob wiggled a bit until suddenly the whole thing swung open. Mona Lisa and Sapphire tiptoed in, scanning the room for any sign of movement. Karai got up from kneeling on the floor and dusted herself off before walking causally to Ozpin's desk.

"Would you relax," she said as she started opening drawers. "You're making _me_ nervous."

"He could come back any second," Sapphire hissed as she came over to the desk like it was a sleeping Grimm.

"He just went to get coffee. The line was almost to the door." Karai pulled out a tablet. She touched it, and it blinked on.

_Password:_

"Violet just texted me," Mona Lisa said. "She knocked over a plant and her mom went to go get paper towels. She's looking for the password."

"You think she has his password," Karai asked.

"According to some rumors she has a key to his house. You know some people think Ozpin's her dad?" Mona Lisa checked out another drawer for papers.

"I doubt it. Besides, it's not our business." Karai usually didn't mind gossiping, but something about this conversation felt wrong.

"Do you know what would happen if we get caught hacking into Professor Ozpin's computer? He's the head huntsman of Vale. This could be like treason or something." Sapphire fiddled with her dress.

"So we won't get caught," Karai said. She rolled her eyes. That's the problem with going to hero school. Everyone's so damn moral.

"She found the password. I'm in." The girls huddled around the screen. Mona Lisa quickly flipped through files until she got to one labeled "correspondence." Email records popped up. Mona Lisa picked one called Dust robberies dated last week from a police district chief. They scanned the contents.

It seems that Dust robberies have gone up in the past couple months. The chief thought it might be the work of Roman Torchwick, a known criminal. Professor Ozpin responded to the officer, saying that as far as he knew the other kingdoms weren't experiencing any rise in thefts.

"Look at that one," Sapphire said. She pointed to an email dated two days ago from a huntsman named Qrow Branwen.

"Queen in play" was all it said.

"Do you think this queen could be the woman we saw last night?"

"She went alone to see the Kraang," Karai said. "If she was really in charge, she'd have people with her. Or she'd just send underlings to do it."

"So then who is the queen," Sapphire asked.

Suddenly the elevator dinged. Mona Lisa turned off the tablet and dropped it on the desk. Karai grabbed her teammates and pushed them out a window, then jumped after them. The three girls held onto the window ledge and braced their feet on top of gargoyle statues. Through the open window they heard Ozpin sit down in his chair.

The elevator dinged again. "Come in," he said.

A man's footsteps, and then "you wanted to see me?"

"Yes. I know you're busy, Bartholomew, especially since it's almost time for midterms."

"Nonsense." A chair creaked. "How may I be of assistance?"

"I was wondering if you would interested in going on a mission to Earth."

"Earth?"

"Earth?" Sapphire almost lost her grip, and clung to the gargoyle with her legs as well as hands, like a monkey.

"Shh," Karai hissed.

"I know you're an expert on Earth history, and I was hoping you wouldn't mind putting it to good use."

"Where on Earth?"

"New York City." Karai pulled herself up higher to listen better. "It seems some of the Dust that has been stolen in the past few months made it there somehow."

"Hasn't New York been invaded by the Kraang in the past few months?"

_Invaded?_ Karai nearly let go of the ledge. The Kraang managed to invade Earth?

"Yes. Perhaps you could also try to help the resistance there while you're at it. That is, if you're up to it."

"A chance to observe Earth culture up close? How could I say otherwise?"

"Excellent. I'll send you the details shortly and arrange for a substitute. That will be all for now."

The girls heard Dr. Oobleck leave before climbing down to a window and jumping in. They landed in what appeared to be a music room, with a piano and some chairs.

"So they already know about the Kraang." Mona Lisa dusted herself off.

"Yeah, but what's New York?"

"Must be a place on another planet they're trying to invade. Earth."

The door opened. The girls froze. Ruby walked in, a piece of paper in one hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone else was using this room."

"No it's fine. We were just leaving." Sapphire smiled brightly. "I saw you signed up for the show. I bet you'll do great."

"Thanks." Ruby blushed.

"Well, we don't want to keep you," Sapphire said, clasping and unclasping her hands. The three girls quickly walked past her to the door, with Sapphire looking around the room to avoid eye contact.

"Wait. Karai, can I talk to you?"

"Um, yeah, sure." Mona Lisa and Sapphire left, saying they'd meet back in their room. Karai leaned against the wall. "So, what's up?"

"Well, you know I'm on Weiss' team. And I just. . . I know it might not be my business, but what's going on with you and her?"

Karai didn't answer right away. She went over and sat down in front of the piano, and flipped through some sheet music. She could feel Ruby looking at her.

"I mean I'm her team leader. And I think this might be affecting her, and you, and I want to help. I talked to Violet, actually-"

"What?"

"And she said you didn't want to talk about it."

"She's right. I don't." Karai crumpled the paper in her hand and threw it on the floor. "You should be asking Weiss. She's your teammate."

"I did, but she didn't say anything, so now I'm asking you." Ruby got up and stood next to Karai. "You're sisters. You're family."

"We're half-sisters."

"So are me and Yang. Do you think that matters to us?"

"You were raised together. And Yang doesn't blame you for your mother's death."

"What?" Karai shoved Ruby aside. "Why would she think that?" Karai didn't answer. She stomped over to the door, slamming it behind her with a loud bang.

Ruby sat down on the bench and hung her head. So much for being a leader, she thought. Picking the paper off the floor, she stared at it before setting it down in front of her. If she was going to audition, she really should practice. Sitting up straight, she began to sing.

"I couldn't take it couldn't stand another minute. . ."


	7. Partners

"So the treaty of Forever Falls was signed where?"

"In Forever Falls?"

"Close. In the Vale palace, in a room overlooking the falls."

Karai rolled her eyes. "Well why didn't they just call it the palace treaty?"

Violet laughed. "I guess that thought this sounded cooler."

It was Friday night, and Mona Lisa and Sapphire were at the movies. So Violet decided to take advantage of the quiet to tutor Karai. The girls both sat on Violet's bed in their pajamas. Karai lay down, and yawned. They've been looking over the textbook for two and a half hours. It was getting to the point where the Battle of Fort Castle looked like the Battle of Midway.

"Okay, I guess we studied enough for today." Violet mercifully put away the textbook and lay down next to Karai, who rolled over on her stomach.

"So, why did you really want to become a Huntress?"

Karai propped up her head with her arm. "I already answered that."

"No one really does this on a whim."

"Well, I could fight, so, you know."

"No, I don't."

Karai avoided her gaze. She was in no mood for confessions tonight. Between the Kraang, this so called queen, auditions and midterms coming up in a few weeks, she just wanted to sleep.

"I just wanted some meaning in my life. Belong to something greater than myself." It was true; she wanted to feel part of something. Something like a clan.

Violet changed the subject. "Why were you upset when I said I liked girls?"

"I wasn't upset. I was just surprised."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Do you like girls?"

Karai looked away again. "Maybe a little." She didn't want to talk about this, either. She knew what had always been expected of her: to marry a strong warrior and continue the clan line. There were some cute boys out there, and finding one who could fight probably wouldn't have been a challenge.

But that was as a kunoichi. As a Huntress, she could do whatever she wanted. It's not like anyone cared. Last week some second years took turns riding their rocket powered lockers into town. Dating a girl probably wouldn't raise that many eyebrows.

"Was there anyone you liked at the orphanage you grew up in?"

Karai didn't say anything for a few moments. Finally she looked at Violet. "There was this one boy."

"What was his name?"

"Leo." Karai smiled, but she didn't blush. "He was a great fighter and a sweet guy, but really naïve in an adorable way."

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened. I went off to become a Huntress. But I don't think it would have worked out anyway." She didn't say anything for a minute. "So what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Did you ever have any girlfriends?"

"No, not yet. There was this one girl, but she only liked boys."

"That sucks."

"Yeah." Violet lay down again. "Want to sleep in my bed tonight?"

"Uh, what?"

"You know, like a sleepover. Mona Lisa and Sapphire won't be back for a while anyway. We could watch a movie or something."

"Okay." Karai pulled the covers over her. Violet grabbed her tablet from her desk and snuggled in next to her. They flipped through the list of movies she had.

"How about Anastasia?"

"What's that?"

"It's based off the Lost Princess. I noticed you reading a fairytale book a few days ago."

"Okay." They lay close together, but not quite touching, and settled in to watch the movie.

* * *

 

 

Weiss let the shower water warm up as she checked her phone. She didn't really check her phone that often until she came to Beacon, but now all of a sudden Ruby was sending something about studying or meeting up. Yang apparently had a pun of the day app, and the rest of the team was suffering for it. Blake, who was already asleep, didn't text that much. Or talk much, really.

As the steam started rising, Weiss set down her phone by the sink. She shed her clothes, avoiding the mirror. She had been told by her physician that she was still growing, there was still time, blah blah blah. Yet when her partner was two years younger than her and was taller and more. . . developed, it was rather infuriating, to say the least. But in that case it probably ran in the family. After all, look at Yang. . . no, Weiss didn't want to think about that. She shook her head and stepped in the shower. Long showers were one luxury she would never give up, even at school. Grabbing her vanilla body wash, she began to clear her mind, and sing.

"He was so romantic,

I could not resist.

Someday my prince will come.

Someday we'll meet again.

And away to his castle we'll go,

To be happy forever I know."

Weiss' phone beeped. She gave an annoyed sigh. There was always the chance it might be important. She stepped out of the shower and scrolled through the texts.

_I trust your classes are going well._

One of the downsides to having an expensive scroll that could receive texts from other kingdoms was receiving texts from other kingdoms. Her father almost never texted her. Unless it involved something that brought honor to the family name.

_Yes, classes are going well._

Weiss put down her phone and went back to showering. As she lifted her head to the water, she could feel it burning the scar over her eye.

 

* * *

 

". . .so then of course Levi turned right around and was like 'Mom, Gardenia drove the tractor into a tree' and my mom grounded her for a month, and she missed her date. So not only did she steal back the bribe, she took his action figure and threw it in the fire place. They haven't spoken in two weeks."

Sapphire laughed. "Wow. How many siblings do you have?"

"Four. I'm the oldest."

The line began to move again. They've been waiting for twenty minutes, but Sapphire didn't mind. She had been looking forward to seeing "The Red Queen" for weeks.

"Do you think we'll have time to get snacks?"

"I brought my own." Mona Lisa gestured to her small bag. She discreetly pulled out a small plastic bag filled with dried crickets. "You can have some if you want."

Sapphire took a cricket from the bag. It was shriveled and dark, like a raisin. She popped it in her mouth.

"Crunchy."

* * *

 

 

The movie was about half over. Violet looked over at Karai. Her eyes were half closed and her head was drooping.

"Do you want to watch the rest of it later?" Violet poked Karai's side and she flinched. She lifted her head slowly and blinked.

"Do you want to finish the movie," she repeated.

Karai yawned. "Maybe later." She got under the covers as Violet put away the tablet.

"Hey Violet?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you want to be a huntress?"

"I already told you-"

"You said you wanted to follow in your mother's footsteps. But it has to be more than that." Karai raised her head again and looked over at her, eyes fully open this time. "You're not just your mother's daughter, you know."

"I know."

Violet lay down and pulled the covers over her. "I'm my father's daughter, too," she whispered.

As Weiss pulled on her nightgown, her phone beeped again.

_I know that girl is there, too._

Weiss gulped, her fingers instinctively covering her scar. She didn't know how her father knew about Karai. She certainly didn't tell him. Maybe she didn't like her, but she suddenly felt a bit protective. Her father was a dangerous man to cross.

Just as she was processing this, her phone beeped again.

_Yang and I picked up The Undead Mascot II. Do you want to watch it tonight or tomorrow?_

Weiss figured she should be relieved that Ruby wasn't texting about Karai or a picture of her dog Zwei. But still, apparently fighting monsters wasn't enough for those two sisters. No, they had to pick the goriest films available.

_Blake's sleeping. We'll watch it tomorrow._

_Okay. See you back at the room._

Weiss found herself smiling as she turned off her phone. There were good reasons to check her texts, she supposed.

* * *

 

 

"Can you believe the part where the two queens faced off?"

"Yeah, they didn't even fight each other. I was kind of disappointed." Mona Lisa tossed the last cricket in her mouth. It was late, and they decided to take a short cut through an alley. In most cases, this would have been stupid. But with a gun and some exploding arrows, it was just a practical short cut.

"Hey Sapphire, can I ask you something?"

Sapphire cartwheeled over the worn pavement. "Sure."

"How did your parents react to you enrolling at Signal?"

"Terrified. I mean, Robin had just. . . well, yeah."

"That must have been rough." They turned a corner and passed by that old bookshop. The sign said closed, but under the curtains a little light shone through.

"Yeah. But they warmed up the idea after a couple months. Plus it meant I could defend myself if I ever run into trouble."

"My parents were the exact opposite. They were thrilled. I was bringing honor to the family name and everything."

"That's nice."

"Yeah." Mona Lisa swung her mace absentmindedly. "But it's a lot of pressure, too. What if I fail?"

"You're not going to fail." Sapphire leaped, landing on one foot, the other extended outwards. "You're pretty tough."

"Thanks. So are you."

"Yeah right."

"No, I'm serious." Mona Lisa put a hand on her partner's shoulder. "You gave up your dream to honor your brother, against your parents' approval, to come here. And you didn't have a special mentor or relative to help you. You did it all on your own. That takes guts."

Before Sapphire could say anything, Mona Lisa grabbed her and pulled her behind the corner and down a long maze of back alleys. Sapphire could see her eyes glow bright; she was using her Semblance. The girls ducked behind a dumpster next to an old warehouse. They could hear footsteps in the alley. Mona Lisa put a finger to her lips.

"Kraang, the meeting place has been decided for Kraang to meet at the place known at the docks."

"At the time span known as a week, Kraang will meet with the one known as Cinder."

Kraang will alert Kraang of the meeting place."

"Very good Kraang."

The footsteps moved away, and the girls slipped away unnoticed.

When Mona Lisa and Sapphire came back, they found their teammates already asleep, with Karai's head resting on Violet's shoulder.

"We'll tell them tomorrow," Mona Lisa said. She plopped on her bed, avoiding the comics and metal parts scaterd over her bedspread. She leaned back, resting on her hands.

"What do you think the Kraang are planning?" Sapphire began pulling out pajamas from her dresser.

"Probably some rip off of a cheesy sci fi flick. Maybe they'll even have robots that are actually cool." Mona Lisa

"I don't like sci fi," Sapphire whined as she threw off her dress. "Can't we have, like, ninjas or something?"

Mona Lisa rolled her eyes. Ninjas of Love, dear Dust. "How about robot ninjas?"

Sapphire rolled her eyes back. "Robot ninjas?" She pulled her nightgown down. On Mona Lisa's bed she noticed her copy of Mutant League #37. "Why not just ninja mutants?"

"Why not? I'd watch it."

Sapphire went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. "I wouldn't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in this chapter is called "Someday my Prince Will Come" from Disney's Snow White.


	8. Fight me

_The audition line was longer than Weiss expected. In the front row of the auditorium three people sat, along with Professor Ozpin. The man in the tweed suit, a theater director in Vale, stood up on stage and made a short speech about unity and peace and doing your best, blah blah blah. Then the students were called in alphabetical order. Weiss held her breath as Ruby was called, but despite all her partner's misgivings Ruby actually sang rather well. Not as good as she would, of course, but well._

_"Weiss Schnee," a woman read from the list. The director leaned forward. He probably heard her sing before. Weiss walked to the microphone and closed her eyes. She clasped her hands in front of her, waiting as the music softly filled the room._

" _He was so romantic,_

_I could not resist. . ._

Combat class didn't have an exam, but that didn't stop Professor Goodwitch from acting like they should be preparing for one.

"Okay then, up next Weiss Schnee," Professor Goodwitch said, reading from her tablet.

Weiss walked down to the center of the arena. Ruby waved, and she smiled back, for a second. She took her place and unsheathed her sword. Left foot forward, shoulders back.

"And Tang Karai."

She saw Karai walk down the steps with an inherent grace that Weiss took years to achieve. She took her place in front of her, no hesitation. She whipped out her sword in one move, and moved one leg back. The two girls looked each other in the eye.

No one would guess they were related from first glance. In Remnant, genetics worked differently and light colored hair and eyes were usually dominant. So Weiss looked like her father, like most Atlisians. Her body was pale, small, and delicate. Karai was taller even though she was younger. She was solid, tall like her father. If the girls had gotten to know each other they probably would have noticed some similarities; they both crossed their arms a lot, they both wrote with their left hands, they both drank chai tea. Right now, however, they were focused on each other's expressions, looking for some hidden thought or feeling.

But they had both learned to hide their emotions early on.

Professor Goodwitch looked up from her tablet. "Begin."

Karai lunged forward and swung her sword. Weiss blocked her. She tried to activate her Dust but Karai struck again, forcing her to defend. Weiss back flipped, Karai flipped forward. Their swords struck again, and again. _ **  
**_

_Everyone clapped. Some people hollered. Yang gave Weiss a thumbs up. Weiss just curtsied. She took a seat in the back next to Ruby._

" _Thank you Ms. Schnee," the man in the front said._

" _Up next, Tang Karai."_

_Karai walked up to the microphone and raised it to her mouth. She took her time. Then, gesturing for the music to start, she stood hands clasped and eyes closed. As the song filled the room, Weiss froze._

_She wouldn't._

_She couldn't._

" _Mirror, tell me something, tell me who's the loneliest of all?"_

_She did._

" _Mirror, tell me something, tell me who's the loneliest of all?  
Mirror, what's inside of me; tell me can a heart be turned to stone?"_

_And she might have been doing it better._

Weiss used her gold clockwork glyph to temporarily increase her agility. Karai back flipped, throwing metal throwing stars that Weiss blocked. Weiss' blade glowed red, and she struck. Karai tried to duck but wasn't quick enough. She fell back against the wall. Karai got up, hunched over in pain. For some reason she suddenly remembered her fight with April in the alley back in New York. If she ever saw April again, she should really apologize. She probably wouldn't, but she should.

_Karai let out an unearthly wail. The music picked up speed._

_Mirror, mirror, what's behind you? Save me from the things I see._   
_I can keep it from the world. Why won't you let me hide from me?_

Karai charged, all strategy cast to the wind. She swung her sword in a fury. Weiss blocked her. Her sword turned white, and she shot out an energy blast. Karai jumped out of the way.

_Mirror, mirror, tell me something- who's the loneliest of all?_

Unfortunately, she landed on Weiss' glyph. She was frozen, unable to move as Weiss made her final blow.

_I'm the loneliest of all."_

_Weiss knew that everyone was clapping, that Professor Ozpin was getting up because of some meeting and that the woman was calling someone else's name now. But all she could focus on that that girl's smug smirk. Her hands curled into fists._

_Just you wait, she thought. We'll see who's smiling soon._

"And that's the match." Professor Goodwitch stepped forward. "Well done Ms. Schnee. You have showed real improvement this semester."

"Thank you, Professor." Weiss curtsied and walked back to her seat, not even looking at her oponent.

"Ms. Tang, you are a very skilled melee fighter for a first year. But I would think seriously about upgrading your weapon, especially since you have not discovered your Semblance yet."

Karai didn't say anything. She bowed slightly, and limped back to her teammates. She didn't look at them.

"Alright, that is all for this week. Remember that midterms are in one week. There is no exam in this class, so use that extra time well. Dismissed."

"Wow, your mom must be fun at parties," Mona Lisa muttered. Violet glared at her.

Karai sprinted out of the room. Her Aura practically glowed as she healed her injuries.

"Karai, wait," Sapphire called out. Weiss turned to see her sister run out of the room. She looked away. She may have been feeling a bit concerned. Sympathetic, even. But her face didn't show it.

* * *

The teleportation device between Remnant and Earth could be programed to teleport to various coordinates. So the team from Vale were sent to a location about a two mile outside of New York City. The four members stepped out into a wooded area near the side of a road.

"I always forget how beautiful Earth is," Gaia Greer said. A woman in her early twenties, she wore a brown jacket, green shirt and jeans. Her brown hair hung to her hips, brushing against her gun.

"Yes, well our mission is to help the resistance and make contact with Agent Bishop and his forces." Dr. Oobleck held his coffee mug high, like he was toasting future success. He took a sip before walking in the direction of the city.

"And stop the queen's forces in the area."

"I highly doubt she has any forces in the area." Theodora Tang started walking, holding her cane but not leaning on it.

"The Kraang are her allies, aren't they?" Gaia looked at Qrow Branwen, who didn't seem to be listening. He held his scythe ready, checking the area for signs of danger.

"The Kraang's goals are directly opposed to her own," Dr. Oobleck said. "Right now, she is not our primary concern."

The group kept walking until they reached a small, quaint house that stood alone half a mile from the city. Dr. Oobleck knocked on the door. An intercom buzzed to attention.

"Who are you," a deep voice asked.

"We are the group from Vale, sent by Ozpin."

"Password?"

"Victory."

There was another buzz, and the door opened. The team entered, and the door closed behind them again.

 


	9. Calm after the storm

Storm clouds gathered over Beacon. The weatherman predicted a hurricane. A few students milled about, heading to the dorms for the night. And then there were VKSM, or rather VSM, running around tired and jagged. Karai skipped the rest of her classes after combat and missed dinner. She wasn't in her room, or the library. And between a secret alien conspiracy and a hurricane, it was an especially bad time to go missing.

Violet twisted her whip in her hand like a rag. "We have to find her. Her Aura's low and she doesn't have any Dust and she's so stupid and reckless-"

"Violet." Mona Lisa put a hand her shoulder. She could feel Violet's muscles tense.

"I'm the leader. I'm supposed to lead."

"This isn't your fault Violet," Sapphire said. "And we'll find her. Besides, Karai's badass, remember?"

The girls walked back to the dorms to see if she came back. They passed by Weiss and Yang.

"Weiss," Violet called out, running up to them. "Wait."

The two girls stopped.

"Hey," Yang said. "Violet, right?"

"Yeah. Weiss, listen to me. Karai's missing?"

"WHAT?"

"Karai, your sister," Mona Lisa said. "You know, the one you refuse to acknowledge is alive? She's missing."

"You _lost_ her?"

"Hey, this ain't our fault. You're the one who-"

"We need your help. Please Weiss, she's your sister. Your little sister." Sapphire pressed her hands together pleadingly.

"Yang, tell Ruby and Blake to start searching. You three, check the dorms." Weiss ran towards the forest.

"Where are you going," Yang called.

"Following a hunch."

Karai ran past the school grounds, not looking where she was going. She was running from her past, running from her future and running from the storm clouds gathering overhead. It was useless, but it felt good.

Her sister blamed her for their mother's death. Her. . . father, and the turtles thought she was the enemy. Hell, she couldn't blame them. The only friends she had were friends because they didn't know who she was. Even her grandmother wanted her to forget her past. But how could she? How could she forget her entire life?

And yet these last few months in Remnant, especially at school, were honestly the first time Karai really felt like she belonged. She wasn't seen as weird or aggressive or scary. She went shopping and watched movies with other kids her age. They killed monsters together and investigated alien robots. It was nice.

Eventually she stopped, out of breathe and tired. Her Aura was almost completely depleted. To make matters worse, she was lost. Besides a couple of buildings that didn't look very used, there was nothing but trees. Karai sat down against a big, tall one.

A twig snapping jolted Karai out of her thoughts. She was stupid to run into the woods. This wasn't Earth. The woods were full of-

" _Rawrrr!"_

An Ursa Major burst through the trees and charged at her. Karai rolled out of the way, just missing its giant claws. She got up and unsheathed her sword. Her Aura was almost gone, but she fought for her whole life without it.

The Ursa roared again and barreled towards her. Karai dodged the blow. She pulled out her throwing stars. One, two, three. They didn't even pierce the monster's back. Karai tried a throwing knife. She grabbed a branch of a tree, pulled herself up and threw at the Ursa's eye. It worked, but the monster still had one eye and was now very angry. Karai jumped down onto its back. She stabbed it in the neck. It bucked. She flew backwards into a tree. She lay there, struggling to get up. The monster roared again.

Suddenly there was a white flash and a fire spontaneously light the air. The Ursa began to burn. So did the trees.

Karai felt a hand on her shoulder. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out the silhouette of a girl. It was hard to understand her. Karai probably had another concussion. But before she lost consciousness, she did hear, or think she heard

"I'm sorry."

* * *

 

Karai woke up in her room in her grandmother's house. Sunlight came in through the window. She felt a bit tired, and weak, but other than that she was fine.

Karai heard the door open. Weiss walked in, holding a cup of tea.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi." Karai sat up. She felt bandages under her borrowed nightgown.

Weiss started speaking a rather fast. "They gave you something for the pain. It'll take a couple days to heal." Weiss slowly sat down at the edge of the bed. She held out the cup. "Here. It's black tea. Grandmother said it was your favorite. She's still on Earth for the next couple of weeks. And your teammates are on their way over."

"Oh. Thank you." Violet was right; practice does make perfect.

Weiss watched as she took a sip and set the cup down on the nightstand. She clasped her hands, the unclasped them.

"You were the one who saved me."

"Yes."

"What were you doing in the woods?"

"I was looking for you. I figured since you grew up on Earth you wouldn't remember there were Grimm there."

"You were looking for me? Why?"

"Because I heard you were missing. Because, because I'm your sister." She started to talk in a rush, like she had been holding back for a while. "I know I haven't been acting like a sister, and I'm sorry. But I was jealous because you're Grandmother's favorite and Mother's favorite and-"

"Wait, favorite? What are you talking about?"

"Mom didn't just choose Earth over Remnant or your father over mine. She choose you over me."

"No, she didn't." Karai, to both girls' surprise, took Weiss' hand. "She tried to bring you to Earth when we were babies but your dad took you back."

"What?" Weiss sat back, startled.

"Yeah, and after the fire Grandmother tried to get custody over you but your dad bribed the judge in Atlas. He told Grandmother she would almost never see you."

"She never told me that."

"She wasn't allowed to tell you a lot of things."

Weiss looked at Karai, searching her face for lies, or truth. Karai did the same thing.

"Did you really think I was the favorite?"

"Well of course. You look like Mom more than I do. You're the daughter of the man she loved. You're confident and street smart and determined. You'd make a better huntress than I would." Karai snorted. More confident? Seriously? This girl wasn't just descended from royalty, she was royalty.

"You already beat me, remember? Plus I'm a criminal raised by a psychopath."

Weiss smiled bitterly. "Well, so was I. And that wasn't your fault."

"You didn't think so. You said her death was my fault."

"I never meant for you to hear that." Weiss squeezed Karai's hand. "I didn't mean it. Karai, what happened wasn't your fault."

It was the first time she said her name.

"I guess we have both been jealous of each other," Karai said. "I'm sorry."

"So am I." Weiss reached over and put her arms around her. Karai hugged her back. They stayed that way for a minute. Neither of them had a lot of experience with such things. But both girls liked the feeling.

* * *

 

 

The underground makeshift headquarters of the Earth Protection Force was pretty impressive. There were three floors full of monitors and sterile metal tables and stolen alien weaponry. Agent Henry Bishop led his guests to one large room that had screens showing various locations of New York.

"No one in the rest of the world knows that much about what's going on, and we'd like to keep it that way." Bishop gestured to the road blocks and the Kraang hiding behind them. "The last thing we need is some idiots trying to blow up the entire city. Right now we know they're a couple months away from executing a plan to mutate more humans, but with the Dust you so generously given us, it is safe to say we can stop them in time."

"What about the Shredder and his forces?" Professor Tang looked at the screens intently. One blinked, then suddenly displayed a picture of Shredder's lair.

"They are not a true threat right now. We'll deal with them later."

"We were told by our sources that there is a group of mutants in the area who would be a great help fighting the Kraang," Dr. Oobleck said. "Turtles, I believe."

Bishop shrugged. "We've seen some mutant turtles fighting the Kraang before the invasion, but the last we'd seen was when one was fighting Shredder and his forces alone. I doubt it survived." He pulled out a remote and pointed it to one of the monitors. It started playing a video of a young humaniod turtle-he looked younger than most Beacon first years- holding two swords, fighting off what appeared to be robots. The battle lasted several minutes, ending with the Shredder delivering a massive blow. The turtle fell, and didn't get up.

"Our sources tell us these creatures were apparently fighting in a clan war."

"That poor boy," Gaia said. Bishop shrugged.

Professor Tang looked hard at the image frozen on the screen, of Shredder standing over the turtle. She gripped her cane in her hands. "Indeed."


	10. Mutagen

Sapphire looked over the edge of the roof of the shipping center. The rest the team was scattered over the docks. Scrolls were on and ready at hand in case one of them saw the Kraang.

Everyone seemed on edge tonight. Mona Lisa got a bad grade in Biology (Professor Peach apparently had it out for her). And Violet seemed to be in a particularly bad mood for some reason. She even yelled at some upperclassman named Coco for wearing sunglasses indoors. It was actually funny, especially when Coco started shouting obscenities and Professor Ozpin walked by. Only Karai seemed happy. After getting hurt she spent a couple days at home with her sister. Now they were like best friends, when they weren't yelling at each other.

The docks were quiet. Too quiet. They should really add music speakers around here. The workers would be more productive and happy, and stake outs would be less annoying. In the darkness Sapphire could make out Violet peering out behind her crate, then ducking back.

"I saw something," she whispered into her scroll. "Near loading area five. Two men with Kraang guns."

Sapphire leaped off the building and landed pirouette style. She sprinted behind large shipping containers, sticking to the darkness, which is why she didn't see that stupid can and tripped. Sapphire cursed under her breathe. Stealth was an elective at Signal. Maybe she should have bothered to take it.

They met behind a crate. Violet ordered everyone to shush, even though they weren't saying anything. The Kraang walked past, looking like men except for their jerky movements and lack of expressions. They entered a warehouse with boarded up windows. The girls headed to the back door. Karai picked the lock with ease.

Inside there was a dark hallway leading to a metal bridge over-looking the floor below. Clearing cylinder containers filled with glowing green stuff were stacked next to a crate one side. The girls ducked down and listened.

"Kraang has delivered the mutagen to the place that is the place for mutagen," one said.

"The one known as Cinder will arrive in this place at a time which is soon."

Sapphire was getting a headache listening to these guys.

"What do you suppose the mutagen is for," she asked.

Karai rolled her eyes. "Oh, I don't know, mutating people?"

"Why?" Before anyone could answer, Kraang stepped onto the bridge.

"Kraang, it is humans known as humans."

"Kraang, eliminate humans from this place." Before they could shoot, VKSM jumped down onto the warehouse floor, where more Kraang appeared. Their lasers flashed through the air like a light show. It wasn't very effective, but it looked cool.

"Will you guys learn to freaking speak already?!" Mona Lisa took out her mace and began whacking robots around. Violet spun her whip and lighting electrified the air. More robots fell, sparking. All these aliens together seemed less threatening than two Nevermores.

That is until the girls heard a scream from behind. Sapphire turned and saw Karai on her hands and knees on the floor. Behind her a Kraang held what appeared to be a Taser of some kind. Another Kraang grabbed Karai by her upper arm.

"Kraang, it is the one called-"

Before it could finish, she twisted in the robot's grasp, pulling the metal limb in an unnatural angle. She then managed grab her sword with her other hand and cut off said arm. The robots started firing, but Violet jumped up and landed behind them. With a single swing of her whip a bolt of lightning crackled through the air. The robots were out like lights. The few who were left were shot before they had a chance to shoot back.

VKSM examined the crate. The canisters glowed. Not like Dust, but like some weird sci fi ooze. Sapphire picked one up.

"What should we do with them?"

Mona Lisa shrugged. "Sell them to the highest bidder?"

"We should hide it." Karai took the cylinder and held it up, letting the glow wash over the group. "It can't fall into the wrong hands."

"No." Violet grabbed the mutagen. "We need to turn this in."

"What?" Karai tried to grab it back, but Violet held it from her.

"We'll just say we found it. This stuff, whatever it is and whatever it does, needs to be studied. Studied by experts."

"So they can what, make a mutagen antacid? It's dangerous." Karai crossed her arms. Mona Lisa shrugged, and began to stack vials into the crate. Sapphire figured she heard enough arguments at family reunions to care about this one.

"That's exactly why we're turning it in."

"Is that what your mother would tell you to do?"

Violet took in a sharp breathe. "Drop it, Karai."

"Seriously, would you quit being such a goody two shoes for once? Do you ever have an original-"

"I said _drop it!"_ Violet stood as tall as she could and looked her partner straight in the eye. "This. Is what. We're doing."

They glared at each other, unblinking. Sapphire looked from one to the other. The quiet of the night had suddenly become painful as the two girls waged a wordless battle for dominance. For a minute they stood, neither one willing to give in.

Finally-incredibly-Karai dropped her arms and went over to help Mona Lisa. Violet sighed and pulled out her phone to call the school. Sapphire just stood there.

Maybe Violet should be in a bad mood more often.


	11. Crashed and burned

Raph was a heavy sleeper, but as a ninja he could wake up quickly if need be. His ears were trained to pick up certain sounds, even in deep REM sleep. Like his brother crying.

Leo was curled into a ball on the other side of the master bed, sobbing quietly. Raph crawled over and rubbed his shell. It was something their sensei did when they were little and had nightmares. In the two weeks since Leo woke up, he had a lot of nightmares. It was one of the reasons why they didn't let him sleep alone yet.

As the sobs were subsiding, Raph heard the floor outside creak. The door turned slowly.

"Hey," Raph whispered. "I told you to go to sleep hours ago."

"I went to the bathroom," Donnie said. He sat down on the side of the bed. "How is he?"

"He was sobbing again."

Donnie put his hand on Leo's head. "It's okay, Leo, everything's okay." They sat there for a minute, watching Leo uncurl his body and roll over on his back.

"I hate seeing him like this," Donnie said.

"Me too."

"Can I stay in here tonight?"

"What about Mikey?"

"Yeah, what about me?" They jumped. Mikey was standing in the doorway, holding a glass of water in his hand.

"Don't do that," Donnie hissed. "Do you want to wake him up?"

"Sorry." Mikey set down the glass on the table and crawled into bed. He snuggled up against his eldest brother. "So are we having a sleepover?"

Raph shrugged. "Looks like it." He lay on Leo's other side. Donnie lay down next to Mikey, throwing an arm over him.

"You know," Donnie said, "he's probably going to be annoyed tomorrow. He hates us making a fuss."

"Of course we're going to make a fuss." Mikey pulled the blanket over Leo's shoulders. "He was hurt really bad. And he's our brother."

"I don't care if he likes it or not. We're not taking any chances, physically or emotionally."

And with that Raph closed his eyes. In a few minutes they were all fast asleep.

* * *

Casey hated nature.

Nature didn't have hockey rinks, arcades, Nintendo, Hot Pockets, My Little Pony (which he only watched with his sister, of course), cheeseburgers, bubble wrap, strip clubs (not that his fake ID ever worked) or even reliable wi fi. He couldn't even sleep the first few days here because of all the quiet.

Casey wandered into the living room. He could hear April in the kitchen making eggs. That's another things about nature. It had too many chickens.

"Hey Red," he said as he walked into the kitchen. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah." April looked up from the pan. "Do you think you could set the-"

"I'll do it." Donnie ran into the room, panting. "I'll help you, April."

"What are you doing up so early, Donatello?" Casey glared at him.

"I was just working in the lab and wanted to see it you needed any help."

She smiled. "Great, thanks Donnie. Casey, why don't you wake the others?"

Casey tried his best not to stalk out of the room. Damn ninja hearing. He was about to head upstairs when he saw a note on the door.

_Went to the woods to train. Be back later. –Leo_

Great. Just great.

* * *

Leo limped along, his stupid cane getting caught in the mud every five seconds. He was sick of being treated like a baby all the time. It wasn't just that everyone forced him to take it easy. It's that he couldn't even be left alone. He was the leader, the oldest, the best fighter (although Raph would never admit it). He didn't need to be protected. He was quick. He was skilled. He was strong.

But strength hadn't really helped against the Shredder.

Leo came to a small clearing. The woods were incredible, not one tree but hundreds. Leo loved how the sun made patterns when shining down between the leaves.

He took out his swords and started practicing a few simple katas he mastered when he was 10. They were a bit difficult, but nothing he couldn't handle. It was when he got into more complicated ones that his knee gave out. Leo collapsed near a tree, exhausted from the strain. He groaned.

"Leo?" Oh, perfect. The others would be pissed when they found him.

"I'm over here." He could hear twigs snapping like popping popcorn as April rushed over. She really needed to work on her stealth.

"Leo, are you okay?" She knelt down and inspected the damage. Leo sighed. At least he was pretty sure April wouldn't lecture him as much.

"I'm fine, I just-OW!" April took his knee, in her hands, pushing on it gently.

"It looks a bit swollen, but it's not that bad." She pulled out her phone to text the others. "What were you thinking?"

"That I'm a ninja. I can go into the woods and train by myself."

"You need time to heal, Leo. Do you have any idea how worried we all were?"

"Do you have any idea what's like to be a. . . a-"

"Damsel in distress?" April laughed sardonically. "Yeah, I think I know what that's like."

"Yeah, but you weren't raised as a ninja."

"No, I was raised a tomboy by a neurotic widower in Manhattan. I'm no princess." April sat down next to Leo. "I'm no one's princess."

Leo frowned. He knew she wanted to be kunoichi, but stuff like that takes time. But it sounded more like she was talking about Case and Donnie. And Leo really, really didn't want to get into that. He had enough to deal with as it is. And that's part of why he was out here.

"I had a nightmare last night."

"I know. Your brothers all stayed in your room last night. They heard you sobbing." April leaned her head on his shoulder. "They're just trying to help."

"I know, but that's not it. My nightmare, it was different this time."

"What was it about?"

"Karai."

April snapped her head up. Before she could say anything, however, they saw a strange, blue light coming from the sky. It was like plane, but shaped like an egg. It was lower than a plane, and it was getting lower still.

"What is that?" Leo gripped a tree branch and pulled himself up.

"I don't know." The watched as the light streaked across the sky, heading for the woods to the north of them. Donnie and Raph ran up to them, catching sight of the thing as it disappeared behind the trees.

"Donnie, do you know what that is," Leo asked.

"I have no idea. It looks like. . . it looks like a spaceship."

"Let's go check it out." Leo grabbed his cane, only for Raph to grab his arm.

"Are you _kidding me_? You're the reason why we came running in the first place! Do have _any idea_ how stupid it was to go off in the woods alone with your leg? You-"

"This bad leg didn't stop me from saving your ass. Again." Leo let go of the branch and tossed his cane aside. "I'm not defenseless-" He shifted his weight onto his leg and collapsed again. Donnie and Raph caught him as Mikey and Casey showed up.

"Leo, man, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Leo glared at Casey. Did everyone have to act like he was made of glass?

"Did you guys see that thing? It was like a spaceship from Crognard the Barbarian." Mikey jumped up and down, grinning. "Can we go see it?"

"Donnie, April, you take Leo back to the farmhouse. The rest of us will go check out whatever that was." Raph pulled out his sais as though he already knew whatever was there was hostile.

"Hai, nii-chan," Leo grumbled sarcastically. Raph scowled.

"Donnie, once you check him out, lecture him until we get back."

Donnie smirked. "Hai, nii-chan."

* * *

The ship was bathed in an eerie red light. There was probably a siren ringing, or some automated voice telling them the ship was crashing, but all he could hear was the ringing in his head. Gripping a metal rail, he prayed to whatever deity this world believed in.

Suddenly, there was a jolt. And everything went black.

* * *

April and Donnie gently lowered Leo on the couch and helped him lie down. He bit his lip to stifle a groan.

"Let me go get the medical kit."

"Really, Donnie, I'm-" but Donnie had already ran out of the room. April pulled a blanket from a closet and sat on the couch arm rest.

"So, what were you saying earlier? About Karai?" She threw the blanket over him.

Leo closed his eyes and sighed. He had hoped April forgot about that.

"Was she attacking you?"

"No. I actually had nightmares where she was with Shredder, attacking me. This was different. She was. . . crying."

"Crying?"

"Yeah. She was sobbing. And then this thing came . . . thing shadow demon thing . . . and attacked her. Pretty badly."

"Then what happened?"

"Nothing. That's all I dreamt."

The front door creaked open as Donnie carried a big black bag in his hands. He kicked the door shut behind him. "How is he?"

" _He's_ fine, Donnie," Leo said. "Because he hurt his leg, not his head."

"Sorry, I thought you might be napping." Donnie set his bag down on the table. "Let me take a look at your leg."

* * *

"Maybe it'll be another Mom thing." Mikey leaped into the stream, splashing water all around. Raph glared at him.

"Focus, you goofball."

"That thing was so creepy," Casey said. "It's like the creepiest thing we faced."

"And you guys didn't even believe me." Mikey pouted as he climbed out of the stream.

"Well, considering it was you, we had every reason to be skeptical." Raph cut a path through some bushes. "It should be just over this hill."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mikey and Casey pushed the branches aside.

"It means you're an idiot." Mikey stopped for a second as the other started climbing the slope. They didn't notice his fists clench.

"But I was _right_."

"For once."

The boys made it to the top of the hill. Below, in a tiny valley, was a blue space craft under part of a broken tree. It had a small box with two wings, bent down like a paper airplane. A cannon of some sort was lying nearby.

"Dude, are we being invaded again?" Casey pulled out his bat, holding it defensively.

"We don't know, so just be on guard." Raph slowly started to descend the incline. The other followed.

As they got to the bottom, a door popped opened. The guys hide behind some trees, weapons ready. White smoke spread out in the air. A figure limped out of the ship. It sounded like he or she was trying to cough up a lung. As the smoke began to clear, the figure walked towards the woods, but collapsed, still coughing.

The guys ran towards the dissipating smoke. They could tell that the figure way male, probably around their age. Raph reached out to help the guy. He could see a jacket sleeve and grabbed it. Mikey was coughing hard, but managed to take the other arm. Casey ran into the ship to check for other people. The turtles slowly dragged the boy away from the wreck.

"He's a mutant," Mikey exclaimed. They set him down at the bottom of the hill, in the sunlight. White fur covered the boy's skin. His pointy ears twitched, and a fox's tail was smudged with some sort of motor oil. His eyes were closed, and he groaned.

"He's not a mutant, Mikey. He's an alien." Raph knelt down to inspect the boy's leg. He pressed the knee area, and the boy groaned again. "I think his leg might be broken."

Casey emerged from the smoke, coughing. "There's no one else there. He was the only person on bored."

"So what do we do?"

"We can't bring him home." Raph set the boy down and crossed his arms.

"We can't just leave him here, man."

"Yeah, Raph. He's hurt."

"He could be part of an alien invasion, Mikey. _Another_ alien invasion."

"Wouldn't they send more people if they wanted to invade?" Mikey was already hoisting the boy up.

"Plus he doesn't seem to be in any shape to invade anywhere." Casey pointed to the leg.

Raph sighed. "Fine, but if he starts attacking anyone, he's out." He gently took the boy from Mikey, and carried him in his arms bridal style. He wasn't that big.

"I wonder what his name is. Ooh, ooh, how about-"

"Alopex."

"What?"

Casey pointed to the jacket sleeve as they started walking up the hill. "It says on his jacket. Alopex."


	12. My queen

"Where exactly did you find these canisters?" Professor Ozpin leaned forward, elbows on the table. Steam swirled up from his coffee cup. The little room in the tower didn't have much else besides two chairs and a table. It was for questioning criminals, witnesses, and occasionally vigilantes.

Violet sat up straight, hands folded in her lap. She had never been in this room before, and she didn't really like it. The air stunk of stale liquor and desperation. "They were in a warehouse by the docks."

"And what were you doing in this warehouse?"

"My team and I were walking home, and when we passed the docks we heard some shooting and weird noises. So we went to investigate." Violet gripped one hand in the other. Her legs, which were crossed at the ankles, struggled to keep from shaking.

"I see." Professor Ozpin took a sip of his coffee. "Did you see anyone there?"

"Oh no, no. They must have left."

"Well, thank you for telling us about this, Ms. Goodwitch."

"Do you know what this stuff is? Or what it's for?"

"We have some suspicions, yes. Rest assured, we'll handle it." Professor Ozpin sipped his coffee again. "Violet, is there something bothering you?"

Violet smiled. "Of course not, sir."

"Well, it's just that your mother's noticed you acting a little off recently."

Violet sighed. She slumped back in her chair. It figured he was going to ask her this. "My father."

"Ah. Well, you know Violet, I really can't tell you anything except that-"

"You're not my father, I know."

"If it were up to me, I would tell you. But this is your mother's decision. And you only have a month left."

Violet didn't say anything for a minute, didn't look at him. Finally, she took a deep breath. "Am I evil?"

"What?"

"Is my father evil? Am I-"

"Violet, listen to me." Professor Ozpin leaned forward and waited until Violet looked him in the eye. "You're not evil. You're a Huntress. No matter who your father is-or your mother, even-you are a Huntress. A beacon of hope. "

Violet gave a little smile, then nodded. "I know," she whispered. She didn't believe him, of course, but she kind of wanted to.

"Good. Now, if you could please send Karai in." As Violet was leaving, Professor Ozpin spoke over his shoulder. "I trust you and your teammates will be discreet about this matter."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Despite attending Beacon, Karai was never a fan of law enforcement. The bright light and stale air in the room didn't really help things. Neither did her lack of sleep.

"So, Karai, how are you settling in?" Professor Ozpin was looking at his tablet, scrolling through her records.

"Well I haven't tried to kill anyone. Yet."

Professor Ozpin smiled. "You're doing quite well in all your classes, despite not knowing anything about Remnant a year ago. You're making friends, auditioning for the school play. We are all quite pleased, last week's incident notwithstanding." He put his tablet down so she could see it. There was a picture of the mutagen. Karai stiffened. She waited for accusations.

"As a Huntress, you will be forsworn to protect and defend the kingdom. There are forces conspiring against Vale, perhaps even against Remnant."

"I don't know why the Kraang are in Vale. I already told you everything I know from New York."

"I know. Thanks to your information, we are taking every precaution with the mutagen." He took the tablet back. "I also know that you might be tempted to take matters into your own hands. And I have a feeling that you are aware of the fact that New York has been invaded."

Karai didn't say anything. She looked at her hands, which were gripping and twisting her sword. She was surprised they let her bring it in here. But then again, there was no way she could stand a chance against someone like Ozpin.

"I haven't been in contact with the team sent to Earth yet, so I haven't heard anything about anyone there. But rest assured, we are taking steps to help the city, and Earth as a whole. And if we see any of the people you mentioned, we will try to help them as well." He folded his hands in front of him. "Karai, the reason students have teams is because we cannot face all of this alone. You need to trust your teammates."

Karai put down her sword and looked up at him. Oh great, another speech. "You said telling my teammates would be my choice."

"It is. But I think you need to seriously consider telling them the truth. You're not the first person to become a Huntress to try to make up for past mistakes."

Karai narrowed her eyes. "That's just it, Professor. They're in the past. Right now I want to focus on my future. So am I done?"

Professor Ozpin sighed. "Yes. Thank you for your time, Ms. Tang." He stood up. "And if you ever need to talk, please don't hesitate."

Karai headed to the dining hall for lunch. She didn't know what to think. The way he talked, it was almost as though he trusted her.

Weird.

* * *

Professor Port was taping the cast list for the show up outside the dining hall. Weiss practically ran him over to look at it.

"Ah, Ms. Schnee. How are things?"

"Oh, they're going well, sir." She craned her head to see the list, but Professor Port's head and mustache obscured her view.

"And how is your team doing?"

"Very good, sir. I'm trying take your advice."

"Excellent." Professor Port smoothed out the paper. "And now I imagine you'd like to read the list." He stepped aside. Weiss quickly scanned the names.

"I'm the Apple Princess?"

"Congratulations." Professor Port smiled as Weiss continued to read the list. "I'm sure you will be splendid."

"Thank you, sir." Weiss ran off, and other students came up to read the list.

"Ren, look, I'm playing the evil queen," Nora bent forward at the waist, peering at the paper like it was a creature on display. Ren smiled and shook his head.

"Just try not to destroy the set."

Nora grinned. She let out an evil cackle. It was rather convincing.

* * *

Karai was lying in bed, looking over diagrams and pictures of weapons from magazines, when there was a knock on the door. Karai frowned. Her teammates had their keys. She opened the door. It was Weiss.

"Hi. How is everything?"

"Good." The teachers were all good at helping her catch up after missing four days of classes. No one even asked any questions about what happened. Huntress school definitely had its perks.

Karai stepped aside to let Weiss in. She perched herself on the edge of Karai's bed, ankles crossed.

"You're the Lost Princess."

"What?"

"In the play. I'm the Apple Princess and you're the Lost Princess." She noticed all the papers. "What's this for?"

"Mona Lisa gave them to me. I've decided to take Professor Goodwitch's advice and upgrade my weapon, but I'm having trouble deciding what I want. All I know is that I don't want a gun."

"Maybe you should ask Ruby. She's into this stuff."

Karai nodded. "Did Ruby get in too?"

"Yeah, she's playing the Red Huntress."

Karai went over to her bookshelf and pulled out Roses and Thorns. She flipped through the pages. "Oh, yeah, here it is. Huh. We have a similar tale on Earth."

"That makes sense. Humans on Earth were descended from humans from Remnant."

"Really?" Karai sat down next to her, still looking at the page.

"Yeah. That's why people on Earth are so genetically similar. Grandmother told me." Weiss peered over at the book. "Oh, I have that book."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I. . ." Weiss gently took the book from her. "How about I read to you?"

"What?"

"Yang used to do that for Ruby."

Karai raised an eyebrow. "I'm 16."

"Did anyone ever read to you when you were a kid?"

Karai rolled her eyes. "All right, fine." She gathered all the papers and placed them on her desk. Then she laid down on her stomach, head propped up on her arms. Weiss sat next to her.

"So, once upon a time in a faraway kingdom-"

"Which kingdom?"

"I don't know. Don't interrupt, it's rude. Anyway, there lived a widowed king and his young daughter. She was kind and beautiful and much loved by her people." Weiss held up the book to show the picture of the princess. She had dark hair and pale-"

"What was her name?"

Weiss sighed. "It doesn't say, now quiet. The king remarried a princess from another kingdom, but died soon after. His daughter was supposed to be queen, but she was too young to rule. So her stepmother ruled the kingdom. She loved her power, and was loathe to give it up."

"Loathe to?"

"I swear, if you interrupt me one more time." Karai grinned. Weiss went back to reading.

"So she paid a guard to kill her in the woods and bring her the princess' heart. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. So he cut out a deer's heart instead. The princess ran through the woods and came to another kingdom. She stayed with the other royal family and fell in love with the prince." Weiss showed the picture of the prince and princess. "They planned to overtake the queen. "

"The queen decided to take matters into her own hands. She snuck into the other castle, disguised as a maid, and gave the girl a poisoned apple. She fell into a coma, but didn't die. The queen was discovered and fled into the woods, never to be heard from again. As for the princess, the prince activated her aura, and she awoke. They married and lived happily ever after. The end." Weiss closed the book.

Karai sat up. "So what happened to the queen?"

Weiss put the book back on the shelf. "I don't know. She probably got eaten by a Beowulf or something."

Karai shrugged. "Yeah, probably."

Weiss smiled. "Or maybe she still roams the world, hiding in plain sight, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."

Karai sat up. "Plain sight?"

Weiss laughed. "You know, like in horror movies when-"

Karai jumped up and started going through papers before grabbing a couple. "Hiding in plain sight! That's it! Why didn't I think of this?"

"What?"

"My weapon. I've got to go see Professor Menlow." Schematics in hand, Karai ran to the door. "Arigoto, onee-san," she called over her shoulder as she left.

* * *

Cinder stared at the computer as it loaded. The wifi near the water was terrible. If she was in charge, it would be one of the first things she would demand to have fixed. The screen blinked, and then she saw into a darkened office. A woman was sitting in a chair, cast in shadow.

"Well?"

Cinder smiled. "It seems the Kraang were overtaken. We found the warehouse full of broken robots, and the mutagen was gone."

"Do you know who did it?"

"We believe it was someone from the Academy. If someone were to spill it, it would be most . . . unfortunate."

The woman's eyes glowed in the darkness. "There's no guarantee they would. They might even already know about the mutagen."

Cinder frowned. "You said the group was only in New York for a few days."

"They're in contact with the EPF. We don't know what they know. Either way, this isn't causing the chaos I wanted. We need to instill fear if we want to control the people." The woman's eyes stopped glowing. "You will not fail me again."

Cinder stiffened. "Yes, madam." She moved her mouse to click the x. She had better things to do than be scolded.

"Good. And remember, the girl you fought, the one in the red hood, is not to be harmed."

Ah yes. Ruby Rose. She'd keep an eye on her. "Is there anyone else I can't harm, besides her?"

"I'll let you know, but for now, no. I have to go. I expect a report on Dust robberies later this week."

Cinder nodded. "Yes, my queen."


	13. Acting and reacting

Okay, a wounded Bigfoot was one thing. But a wounded mutant, alien, whatever was just asking for trouble. Raph in front of the couch in the living room-now makeshift infirmary-and watched his brother clean the wounds of an unconscious possible turtle eating fox.

Leo sat in the nearby easy chair, his leg propped up by a stool. He quoted Master Splinter earlier: "In times of peace, never forget the possibility of war. In times of war. . ." Raph didn't remember the second part, actually, but he still thought this whole thing was stupid.

"It looks like he got banged up a bit when he landed. But he's healing kind of fast, actually. I think he'll be fine in a week." Donnie finished cleaning the last cut. He took out a bandage.

"A week? That's all?" Leo stood up, holding onto the chair for support.

"Probably due to some otherworldly biological-"

Leo fell back against the chair. Raph was at his side immediately.

"You really strained yourself today, Leo." Raph helped his older brother up to his feet. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

"I'm fine, Raph." But Raph was already putting an arm around his waist and slowly leading him to the stairs.

"Let me know when he wakes up," Raph called over his shoulder as they went upstairs.

Donnie unrolled the gaze. April, Casey and Mikey were out getting groceries. He knew Mikey would unknowingly ruin any chances of Casey trying anything. Leo also seemed to be getting better, although Leo thought he wasn't healing fast enough.

This creature, though. Alopex. Donnie was surprised none of his bones were broken. He would have to check if he had a concussion when he woke up, but still, this was almost miraculous. Donnie hoped his patient wouldn't mind answering some questions about his anatomical structure.

The fox stirred. He opened his eyes slowly, and winced at the light. He tried to sit up, and cried out in pain.

Donnie cradled his bandaged torso and gently lowered him back down. "Easy there, don't strain yourself." The fox turned and stared at him. Donnie braced for the screams of terror.

"What happened," he asked.

Donnie frowned. Okay, he spoke English. And he wasn't screaming. Well, the guy was a giant fox, so a giant turtle probably wasn't that weird.

"Your spaceship crashed in the nearby woods. We brought you in to treat you."

Donnie felt the fox boy's body stiffen. He saw his bright, piercing blue eyes widen. "How bad is it," he whispered.

Donnie tried to smile reassuringly. "Well, you don't have any broken bones, but-"

"No, no I mean how's the ship?"

"Oh. I wasn't actually there, but my brothers told me it looks like it's in pretty bad shape." The boy groaned. "But I'm sure we could fix it later. Did you build it yourself or something?"

"No, I stole it."

"Oh."

"I painted it myself, though. Does that count?"

Donnie couldn't help but laugh. This guy was injured, alone with strangers on a foreign planet, and this is what he was worried about. The fox laughed along with him.

"Yeah, I guess that counts. Oh, your jacket and shirt are in the washing machine, by the way. They got some blood on them."

"Cool. What's your name again?"

"I'm Donnie. You're Alopex, right? That's what it said on your jacket."

He nodded. Donnie pulled out a flashlight from his medical bag.

"I'm just going to check to see if you have a concussion."

"I'm pretty sure I'm good." Alopex tried to sit up again. Donnie put a hand on his lower back and half lifted him up.

"Well, better safe than sorry." Donnie shined the light in Alopex's eyes. "Just follow my finger, okay?"

Donnie moved his finger slowly from side to side, and up and down. Alopex's eyes moved where they should. He seemed alert, responsive. Calm, even. When Donnie finished, Alopex stared back at him, not looking away.

"Well, I think you're okay in terms of head trauma. And overall you seem to be healing rather quickly. But you need a few days of bed rest."

"Okay, I guess. And thanks for rescuing me, by the way."

"Well, it wasn't me, but you're welcome." He felt Alopex's eyes on him as he put all the medical supplies away. Donnie could suddenly feel himself getting red. They did turn the heat up for Leo earlier. He stuffed the bag under the table; he'd put it back in the barn when he didn't have patients to look after. Maybe giant turtles really were weird where this kid came from. He had a right to stare. Donnie would, too. Except he would be talking, asking questions, instead of just sitting there silently.

Finally as he was getting up to get Alopex some water did Donnie ask "Why are you staring at me?"

"Nothing. Just looking at the shape of your head, that's all."

Donnie nodded. "Let me get you some water." He walked briskly out of the room.

Maybe there was some head trauma after all.

* * *

Ruby was fidgeting in her seat. The cast of "Legends Scatter" sat in a circle of metal chairs onstage under the bright lights they would be performing under. The guy who was supposed to be the director was offered a last minute sabbatical, so the play was going to be directed by Ms. Louise Chardonnay. Right now she was dressed in a red velvet shawl and black dress, pacing the edge of the circle with her cane. She preferred to be addressed as Louise. Ruby preferred not to address her at all.

"Acting, children, is 90 percent reacting."

Jaune raised his hand. "What's the other 10 percent?"

Ms. Chardonnay ignored him. "Right now, to start off with, we're going to start off with a discussion about the play. What is the play about?"

Coco raised her hand. "A desperate attempt to appeal to donors?" Several people snickered. Ms. Chardonnay frowned. She began to pace again, this time with her hands behind her back.

"Yes, well, it is about several stories interwoven together. There's the famous tale of the Red Huntress, who discovered Dust. Then there's the two princesses, the Lost Princess and the Apple Princess. And finally there's story of the star girl, the visitor from another world. Now, to start off things I thought we try a few trust exercises."

* * *

Raph gently pulled the covers over Leo, who groaned and buried his face in his pillow.

"I'm never going to get better."

Raph patted his shoulder. "It's only been a couple of weeks."

"You heard what Donnie said about the fox mutant."

Raph sat down on the bed beside his brother. "Look, Leo, you've been out for three months. These things take time. You are going to get better, Leo. And until then, we're going to be here for you." Raph put an arm around Leo and pulled him close.

Leo snorted. "Raph, if it was you injured you would have tried to walk back to New York by now."

Raph laughed. "Yeah, probably. But if it was you taking care of me you'd tell me to shut up and get some rest."

"True."

* * *

Yang fell on flat on her butt. She glared up at Sapphire. "You were supposed to catch me!"

"I tried, but you're heavy and I dropped you."

"Are you calling me fat?!"

About half the cast were either in the process of falling or catching the person who fell. The other half stood off to the side of the stage, refusing to participate.

Ms. Chardonnay sighed. "Alright, let's try something else. How about we try some improv? Coco, Russell, why don't you two start?" She motioned for them to stand in the center of the stage. "Coco, you have to start a sentence with the letter A. Like, 'At least it's not raining' or 'Actually, I'm from Vacuo.' Then Russell starts a sentence with the letter B, and so on."

Coco and Russell stood up and faced each other. Coco's eyes were hidden by her sunglasses, but it was pretty clear she was pissed off. Russell just shrugged.

"Begin."

Coco put her hands on her hips. "Alright, why are you wearing that?"

Russell looked down at his armor. "Because. . . it's clean?"

"Can you at least do something with your hair? It looks like a chewed piece of lettuce."

"Don't insult the hair, bitch!" Russell balled his hands into fists.

"Language, children."

"Everything about you is insulting to the standards of this school." Coco cocked her left hip out. "Your whole team couldn't take down one Ursa."

"Fuck you!"

"Alright," Ms. Chardonnay said, coming over to pull them away from each other. "That's enough."

"Great comeback." Coco said, ignoring her.

"Hey, at least none of the people on my team are freaks like-"

Coco lunged forward and managed to get Russell in the eye before Ms. Chardonnay stepped in, and stopping Russell from retaliating.

"I said enough."

"But Ms. Chardonnay." Jaune raised his hand. "Weren't they just reacting?"

"At least 90% of the time," Yang added.

* * *

"So there I was, stranded in this random planet in Federation territory. They're a very diverse empire, always at war with the Tricaraton Empire. I wasn't in any danger, but I needed a way back home. I figured if I stole a Federation tank no one would notice. I mean, they're everywhere, right? But then the guy who owned the tank saw me, and they chased me. But I managed to fly it back to my world."

"And what world is that?" Donnie keened forward, riveted. Everyone gathered around the couch for dinner, in consideration of Alopex's injuries. The new visitor had taken it upon himself to entertain his hosts with tales of his travels.

"Well, that's. . . hard to answer. The world I was from, I can't really go back to."

"Why not," Leo asked.

Alopex held up his tail. "You guys did notice that I'm a mutant, right?"

"So, like, how'd you get to be a mutant anyway, man?"

Alopex sighed. He leaned back into the cushions and wrapped his blanket tighter around him.

"A few years ago, I was kidnapped by the Kraang and mutated. I escaped their ship a few weeks later, but that ship was in another world. That's where I met Usagi."

"He was the guy who taught you how to fight?" Leo sipped his tea from the easy chair, leg propped up on the ottoman.

"Yeah. I stayed with him and his family for about four years. Usgai treated me like his brother. I was trained in the ways of a samurai." Alopex looked out the window, not saying anything.

"But when Usagi was about to take over his father's role in serving their lord," he said at last, "I decided to leave. I could have stayed and served alongside him, but I felt like it wasn't for me. I've been traveling around ever since."

"And you've never gone home?" April frowned. "How do you know if your parents will freak out or not? Maybe they'd would be okay about you being a mutant."

"Even if that happened, I'd have to hide from the public. It'd put a lot of strain on my parents. I think it would just be better if I just stayed away." Alopex stretched out on the couch and yawned. "Thanks again for helping me."

Leo yawned too. Everyone started getting up and going to bed. Raph helped Leo get upstairs. They left the hall light on, in case Alopex needed to use the bathroom.

Donnie was the last one to leave. He studied his new found patient as he lay down. Alopex looked up at him.

"Good night, Donatello."

"You can call me Donnie."

"Donnie. It suits you."

Donnie paused at the doorway. "I'm sorry you went through all that."

"It's okay. Sorry about your sensei."

"Thanks. Hey, if you feel better tomorrow, do you want to help Casey and I paint the car we're working on?"

"Sounds like fun."

"Okay then. Good night."


	14. Do Re Mi

". . .and bring me home, at laaahhsst." Karai held onto the last note, letting it fill the living room. Weiss, perched ladylike on the couch, frowned.

"Are you sure you've never had singing lessons?"

Karai laughed. "Shredder wouldn't even let me get a dog. You really think he'd pay for private singing lessons?" She plopped down on the couch and looked over her script. Do you want to run lines now or after lunch?"

"After. The chicken should be done around now anyway." Weiss headed to the kitchen. "Can you set the table?"

Weiss took the chicken breasts out of the pot. They were seasoned with lemon and some Alisian spices. Grandmother was returning home later that week. The girls, who had keys to the house, decided to spend the Saturday together and rehearse for the play.

"Didn't you have servants to cook growing up?" Karai poured two glasses of water. She set the silverware down and placed the bowl of salad in the center.

"Yeah, but I wanted to learn so I could cook for my own family one day. My husband and children and I, sitting down together, talking about our day." Weiss served Karai and herself.

"I don't think I want kids."

"Who's going to pass the Tang name and emblem? I'm already the Schnee heiress; I can't do it."

"I don't even use the Tang emblem. I didn't even use the Foot symbol when I was on Earth." Karai cut into her food. "But that does sort of sound like how I learned singing."

"How?"

"If you tell anyone, well, actually no one here would know the movie, but I'd still kill you." Karai looked down at her plate. "I kind of watched The Sound of Music like fifty times."

"The Sound of Music?"

"It's this old musical film from like fifty years ago. A woman becomes a nanny for a rich widower's seven kids and ends up marrying him. It has this song called Do Re Me. I used that to start to learn how to sing."

Weiss raised her eyebrows. "Why is that embarrassing?"

"Because the movie is all sweet and warm and fuzzy. Which is kind of why I liked it. I wished I was part of that family, with tons of siblings and loving parents. I would never be lonely."

"Can you sing something from the movie?"

Karai stood up. "Again, you tell anyone about this, I kill you." She closed her eyes.

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. . ."

* * *

"Hold still."

Donnie smirked but stayed leaning against his worktable. Mikey and Casey got some of Alopex's stuff from his ship last night. He immediately grabbed his sketch pad and started drawing Mikey, who was thrilled. He captured Leo in his meditations; he didn't mind. Now Alopex was trying to draw Donnie's head. Casey was under the car, fixing the transmission of the car. They would hopefully have it up and running by next week.

Donnie used this opportunity to study Alopex. He was wearing his black T shirt now, and blue jeans and black boots. They looked pretty normal. But his blood red jacket, which hung over a chair, wouldn't be out of place at a steampunk convention, with silver buttons everywhere.

And then there was his weapon. This guy may not have built a spaceship, but he did build a sword that turns into a steel crossbow with combustible, environmentally friendly arrows. There was even a compass in the hilt. Alopex said he would let him study it later.

"So Alopex, do you think you could draw me after? Nothing says picture perfect like Casey Jones."

The mutants laughed. "Sure thing."

"So what's the coolest thing you ever faced?" Casey rolled away from the car and stretched his arms out.

"Well, I guess that depends on what you mean by cool."

"Like, most terrifyingly awesome, badass. You know."

Alopex stopped drawing. He flipped through the pages until he found the right one and held it up. A large crow with four red eyes stared back at them.

"It's called a Grimm. This one is about the size of the barn."

"May I?" Donnie took the notepad from him. Studying the picture, he frowned. "Where did you see this?"

"Oh, that's from my home world." Casey came over to see the drawing up close.

"Wow."

"Yeah. They've been attacking my people for as long as anyone can remember. They take up most of the world, except for the four kingdoms." Alopex took back the notepad and flipped to another drawing. This one was of a sort of steampunk knight, with a glowing blue sword. "There's this whole order dedicated to protecting the people from them." He smiled at Donnie. "If you lived in my world, you and your brothers would totally be part of it."

Donnie grinned. "Really?"

"Yeah. And they're like, the noblest and greatest warriors in my world. Actually, in all the worlds I visited I don't think I've ever come across anyone as great as the Huntsmen." He went back to drawing.

Donnie leaned back against the table. Ninjas weren't really inherently good or bad-after all, Splinter _and_ Shredder were ninja masters. Being skilled was one thing. To use those skills for good is something else. He didn't really know who these Huntsmen were, but from the way Alopex talked, it seemed like quite the compliment.

"What about me?"

Alopex laughed. "Casey, being a Huntsmen takes four years of school. And most people go to combat prep schools beforehand. Do you really want to do that?"

Casey headed back down under the car. "Nah. Regular school is bad enough."

* * *

"But I am your sister. You have to believe me."

"I don't have to believe anything. And even if that was true, do what? My stepmother just tried to kill me."

"Well we'll stop her. We can save our kingdom, and-ah."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Well, it's obvious you never had acting lessons."

"I was fine up until the scream, alright? Surprise is hard to fake."

"That was surprise? I thought you were yawning."

Karai threw her script at Weiss, who threw it back. The staple broke and the papers scattered over the Oriental rug like white rose petals.

"Real mature." Weiss put a hand on her hip.

"You started it." Karai mirrored her gesture without even noticing it.

"You started it? What, are we in grade school now?"

"Great comeback, Ice Queen."

"Same to you. . .um, Evil. . .ita."

"Evilita?"

Silence, then the two girls started laughing at the exact same moment.

* * *

"Man, I can't believe Mikey left us with this mess," Leo said, sweeping the living room floor as everyone tried to fix the damage done by Mikey's earlier "outburst."

"He totally ditched. I haven't seen him for hours," Casey added, taking a break from scrubbing the windows.

"Yeah, maybe because you guys were total jerks," April snapped. "You guys never appreciate him. Especially you, Raph."

Raph opened his mouth, all defensive like, but Leo cut in. "He threw food everywhere, April. That's wasteful, irresponsible and now he left for us to clean it up. He's just. . . he needs to grow up."

"I'm going to have to agree with April," Alopex said, scrapping pizza from the walls. "It can't be easy for Mikey, being all cooped up all the time. Not being able to have a lot of friends."

"That goes for all of us, not just Mikey," Raph said.

"Yeah, but it's pretty obvious your brother is way more extroverted than you." Alopex got up to get a glass of water from the kitchen. "Ever heard of the Arousal Theory?" he called back.

" _Arousal_?" Raph turned to Leo, disturbed.

"That's our _baby brother_ you're talking about." Leo glared towards the kitchen.

"No, not that arousal."

"Yeah, my dad explained it to me once." April leaned over the back of the couch. "It means everyone has a different optimum point of stimulation, physical and mental. You know, some people need quiet to concentrate, like Donnie, while others need a lot of noise. It's related to the extroverted-introverted scale. You guys ever took those personality quizzes online?

"Yeah, but I forgot our scores," Leo said. "Anyway, what does this have to do with Mikey throwing food everywhere?"

Alopex came back in the room and plopped down on the couch. "Michelangelo probably has a low arousal level, and naturally wants to raise it. If he went to school, that probably would mean a lot of friends, extracurricular activities, etc."

"In fact, in school with a lot of other people, Mikey would probably be better able to concentrate than he does now," April added.

"Psychologically speaking, only being able to interact with a very small number of people is pretty bad for him. Especially since the rest of your family seems pretty introverted." Alopex took a sip of water. "So to reach his optimal level, he needs some sort of outlet."

"Dude, you sure know a lot about this stuff."

"I read this book once while living at a librarian's house on this one planet-"

"So wait, are you saying that we're not enough 'interaction' or something?" Leo looked at Raph, frowning.

"Well, I mean-"

"So this whole thing is our fault, right?" Raph threw down his rag. "Mikey's a nut because we don't spend enough time with him."

"No, no." Alopex held his hands out in a peaceful gesture. "You guys can't help being introverted any more than Mikey can help being extroverted. If you guys went to school-"

"You don't think we want to go out into the world? You think we _like_ the fact that our brother had to find friends online because he couldn't find any in real life?" Raph stomped out of the room, only to nearly run into Donnie.

"Guys, I think I know where Mikey is." He set down his laptop on the table and clicked a link to an article. "Check this out. . ."


	15. Dreaming of you

Leo limped along in the shadows of the trees. At least this time he told his brothers he was going out. He could feel the throbbing in his leg, the pain in his joint. Holding him back.

"Ugh, I'm never going to get better!" He threw his crutch aside. Gazing up at the sky, he wondered if Splinter was up there, watching him. Maybe if he tried to meditate-

Suddenly, a shooting star was shooting down towards him. "What?" Leo barely dove out of the way in time as the rock crashed into the woods behind him. Leo ducked down, shielding his eyes. The impact sent up dust and dirt in the air, trees trembling like an earthquake.

Leo turned around and gasped. The meteor was an almost perfect sphere, with bright blue glowing veins. Steam rose from its surface. Leo limped over to the rock. He hesitated, then put out his hand to touch the rock. * Who knows, maybe there was an alien watch in there or something.

The rock felt warm. The blue glow enveloped his hand, then his whole body. There was a strange sensation, almost like a kind of power in him. Then the rock became brighter and hotter. Electricity shoot out. Leo screamed. Some force shot out and sent him flying. Until he hit a tree.

Leo looked up. "Weird, that didn't hurt." He stood up, and on an impulse shook out his leg. The throbbing was gone. "And my leg, my leg doesn't hurt either." Laughing, he curled his hands into fists. "I feel fine. In fact, I feel great." Jumping from one tree trunk to the next, he kicked a branch straight through. So much for waiting for it to heal.

"Check me out," he screamed, running through the woods faster than ever. "I'm a super. Hero!"

"Wow, I'm trembling. Really."

Leo snapped his head around. There was a shadow, next to a tree. It was dark, but Leo knew that voice.

"Karai?"

She stepped out of the woods, just the same as the last time he saw her. One hand on her hip, her lips turned up slightly in a smug little smile, like always. "Hey, Leo."

_Karai didn't know why Professor Ozpin's office seemed like a good place to tell her the news. Then again, there probably wasn't a good place to tell her the news._

" _I'm sorry, Karai. From what you said it sounded like you and this boy were close. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Professor Ozpin leaned forward, his hands folded. He was a Huntsman, the top Huntsman in Vale. He was used to giving bad news._

" _I need to be by myself." Karai stood up, brushing out her skirt to hide her trembling hands._

" _Darling," Grandmother said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think that's a good idea. Maybe you should come home with me for the weekend."_

" _No, I mean I need a quiet room to myself so I can meditate. So I can contact him."_

" _Contact him?" Professor Ozpin raised his eyebrow._

" _Contact him subconsciously, in the mind. Like astral projection." Karai folded her arms across her chest. "You said no one found the body, right?"_

" _Yes. It's possible, he could be alive."_

" _Well, I want to know if it's true. I'll send my soul out to him, to see if he's okay."_

" _Darling, have you ever tried this before?"_

" _Not successfully, but with my Aura unlocked it should be easier. I think." She looked up at her grandmother. "I need this. I need to know."_

_Her grandmother looked at Professor Ozpin for a moment, then nodded._

" _Alright, Ms. Tang," he said, rising from his desk. "You'll have one hour."_

And it only took like 10 minutes. Huh, maybe that was her Semblance.

"Karai, what are you doing here? How'd you find the farmhouse?" Leo blinked, certain she would just disappear in a second.

"Farmhouse? What farmhouse?" She raised her arm, gesturing to the uninterrupted nature.

"April's farmhouse. Back there." Leo pointed behind him.

"You guys fled to a farmhouse?' Karai leaned walked forward into the clearing. The moonlight shone on her silver amour.

"Yeah. How'd you get here?"

"Dream projection."

"Dream projection? Wait, I'm. . ." Leo looked down at leg. He groaned.

"Yeah, I guess you should hold off on ordering the cape for now." She leaned against a tree, crossing her arms. The smug smile dropped off her face. "So, what happened with the invasion?"

"We lost. We were outnumbered, and-"

"I know that, genius. I mean what happened to you?"

Leo avoided her gaze. He remembered his dreams, about her attacking him. "The Foot clan ambushed me. I was alone, I got into a fight with Donnie, and I left-"

"Wait, the whole Foot clan?"

"Yeah. I was okay till Shredder showed up."

"You beat Bradford and Xever? And Tiger claw, the deadliest assassin in Asia?" Leo looked back up at the tone of her voice. She was looking at him, like, like. . .

Like she was impressed.

"Yeah, then Shredder knocked me out. I was in a coma for three months."

" _Three months?"_ Karai's jaw actually dropped. She literally looked a little green. Leo winced. And to think he dreamed of her attacking him.

"Yeah, but don't worry, I'm fine now. Well, except for my leg. Donnie said it'll need another month or so to heal."

"So, you're all okay?"

"Well. . . we don't know where Splinter is. Shredder. . . Shredder threw him down a drainpipe."

If Leo could've, he would have stuck his foot in his mouth. Karai blinked rapidly, like she was trying to stop tears. Great, he thought. Like she really needed to hear that.

"We don't know if he's, I mean, he could be okay." Leo tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she brushed him off and started walking back through the woods.

"Karai, look." Leo jumped over her and landed in front of her, blocking the path. "Where are you? We'll come get you-"

"Yeah right. You knew where I was when Shredder had me, and none of you lifted a finger to get me." Karai pushed him out of the way. "I just came because-"

"Don't leave now, my dear. The more the merrier."

The two ninjas looked around, fully alert. "Who's there," Leo called out.

"Bile Beaver."

* * *

Weiss just stared at her sister. She was sitting lotus style on the floor in the music room, breathing deeply. Weiss didn't know much about trances, but it looked like she was in one.

"I don't get it," she said to Grandmother, sipping her tea. "How is this doing anything?"

"Shush, darling, she's concentrating." Grandmother sneaked a glance at Karai, as though even looking at her directly would do something. "Different societies have different customs. If this helps her, it's worth trying."

"Do you think it'll work?"

"Maybe."

"Do you think this mutant boy is still alive?"

"Maybe."

Weiss sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. She watched her sister's eyelids flutter. Weiss read that people's eyelids do that when they dream.

"If she wanted quiet, why are we here watching her? Is this ritual dangerous?"

Grandmother frowned. "I don't think so, darling, but her soul is supposedly leaving her body. That's rather risky."

"That's a lot to risk for some mutant turtle."

Grandmother sighed. "He's practically her brother, Weiss. And your's."

"And mine?"

* * *

"Aaahhh!" Karai was flying, then falling. She felt Leo grab her arm.

"I've got you."

"But who's got you? Mwhaha!" The beaver thing lunged at them. Karai took a throwing star out her pocket and aimed at the creature's eyes. The aim was great, and probably would have worked if they didn't evaporate into purple mist. The beaver punched Leo, and they went flying again. Karai grabbed a tree branch and swung them down to earth.

"Thank God for landing strategies."

The beaver landed in front of them, cracking the ground and shaking the trees. The ninjas struggled to stay on their feet.

"Leo, it would be a really good time to wake up now."

"I can't."

Do do do do

The beaver raised his eyebrow. "Well, aren't you going to answer that?"

"Uh," Leo pulled out his phone. "Hello?"

"Leo, you have to wake up?"

"April?"

"April?" Karai looked at him like he was a few continents short of a map. "What the hell can _she_ do?"

"April, I can't wake up, I-Ah!" The beaver grabbed both of them and threw them forward again. There was light, bright light, then darkness. Then, falling. Falling down onto the New York pavement on Murakami's street.

Leo and Karai groaned, wincing as they sat up.

"What's going on," he asked. He turned and saw his brothers.

"I'm having the weirdest dream," Donnie said.

"You can't be dreaming, I'm here."

"Because I'm dreaming you!"

Leo glared at him. "Maybe I'm dreaming you, but you are not dreaming me."

"You're all having the same dream, you idiots." Karai dusted herself off.

"Karai?" Donnie blinked, like he was seeing a ghost. "What are you doing here?'

"Oh, great. This is your fault, isn't it?"

"Raph-"

"Hey, if I wanted to glimpse into the dreams of teenage boys, I'd read Sports' Illustrated Swimsuit edition."

"Ah man, where'd all the candy go?"

Leo threw up his hands. "This doesn't make any sense. This shouldn't be possible."

"Nothing is impossible." A beaver creature crawled down the building. "For the Dream Beavers."

Donnie giggled. "I'm sorry, did you just say Dream Beavers?"

"Says the talking ninja turtle."

"Oli Oli oxenfree!" Car horns went off everywhere. The ground started shaking again. Colored smoke came out of the sewer grates. Buildings crumbed as three more beavers crawled to join the first. They came together in a stereotypical evil laugh.

"You think you are alone in your dreams," the purple one said. The city turned around them suddenly faded into an outer space screen saver. "But no. For years we have lurked in this dream dimension, stealing the life force of humans, draining them dry, and-"

"But dudes, we're not human."

"That is precisely what makes your life force so delicious," the brown one said, putting his fingers together like a bond villain.

"Seriously, human life force every meal for thousands of years." The red beaver grinned. "And one day, turtles." He swam through the space to get to Karai. "But we don't mind a little dessert." He ran a single claw down her check. She slapped him away.

"I don't know whether to kill you or have you arrested for sexual harassment."

The beavers laughed. "Feisty," the red one said. "Maybe we should have you first." He swooped down and grabbed her by the waist. She shrieked and fought hopelessly against the creature's claw.

"Karai! Leo tried to jump after her but his so called powers were gone.

"Let's see, my dear." The brown beaver came over, licking his lips. "I wonder how you taste." He opened his mouth, and. . .

**To be continued**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're not actually supposed to touch a meteor if you find one. The germs and skin cells on your hands could contaminate any organic matter. Just put the meteor inside a plastic bag (without touching it) and send it to NASA (or whatever your country's equivalent is.)


	16. Wake up already

"What do you mean, practically my brother? Are you saying-"

"No, Hamato Yoshi isn't your biological father. But before your mother died, they brought you to Earth for a couple of weeks. While you were there, he formally adopted you into his clan."

"Adopted me!?" Weiss jumped out of her chair. "Into his clan!?"

Grandmother shushed her, gesturing towards her sister. "It involved some sort of ritual. I don't know the specifics. What I do know is that your father sent guards, demanding you back. Your mother was preparing to appeal to the Council directly and probably would have won, with Professor Ozpin's help." Grandmother leaned forward, hunched over as though weighed down by memories. "After the fire I think Hamato went to New York City in order to come to Remnant. To find you."

"Do you think he still wants me," Weiss whispered.

"Darling, any man with half a brain would be proud to call you his daughter." She didn't add that she had always doubted Hamato even had a third of a brain.

Weiss didn't know what to think. All her life, a part of her has always felt . . . unwanted. Her father only talks to her to instruct to reprimand. Growing up with high expectations and few friends, Weiss had wished on more stars than she could count. With a team and a long lost sister and now this, it was like her wishes might actually be coming true.

Which, of course, seemed too good to be true.

Grandmother reached out to check Karai's pulse. Frowning, she started shaking her granddaughter. Karai fell to the floor, looking more like a ragdoll than a girl.

"What's going on? Is she okay?" Weiss knelt down next to Karai, putting her head in her lap. Grandmother stood up, gripping the back of her chair until her knuckles were white.

"Call Ozpin."

* * *

The beaver bit down on Karai, not noticing the halo around her body.

"Ahh! My teethhh! She bwoke my teethh!"

The beaver threw her to the ground and swung his tail at all five of the ninjas. They went flying down into darkness, landing on hard, cold pavement.

Karai got up, wincing. Looking around at the others, she saw herself reflected in a store window. She looked just like she did in New York, makeup and hair and all. She entered Leo's dream, so she supposed it made sense that she looked like he would expect her to. Except, wait, she did look different. Like, like-

"What? Where are we?" Raphael poked a white border that surrounded them. Karai sighed. Well, it was fitting. For the past year and a half her life basically looked like something from a comic book.

Michelangelo grinned. "Phew. Back in the real world at last."

"This looks real to you?"

"More or less." He pointed up. "Except for those guys."

The four beavers were perched on the tops of old buildings. They were the only things with color.

"I spy, with my little eye, something green."

"Shut up Dave!"

The purple beaver smiled. "Clever trick, girl, but it won't save you." It plunged down, breaking the pavement-page border?-and sending the turtles and Karai tumbling down again. This time they landed in a sewer. The red beaver grabbed Karai's arm before she could get her bearings.

"You'll be put aside for now. Until we get hungry later." He swung her up.

Karai was flying. She was flying over a forest. No, she was falling. Putting her arms out in front of her, she grabbed the nearest branch and swung off of that. The trees became monkey bars, getting lower and lower until Karai jumped to the ground.

Whether a Huntress or a kunoichi, always have a good landing strategy.

Karai scanned the area. It looked like the Emerald Forest. Probably she would be attacked by Grimm until those beaver things were done devouring the turtles. She had to find a way to reach them.

She kicked aside a twig. There must be some way to save them, she thought. Karai glanced down at her feet. Weren't they glowing earlier? Going on a hunch, she closed her eyes. Concentrating on the sound of her heartbeat, she felt her whole body get warm. Opening her eyes, she saw her body bathed in a bright light.

By entering Leo's dream, she stepped out of her body. She was nothing more than a soul.

And victory is in a simple soul.

* * *

The red beaver licked his lips. Screams always wet his appetite.

The four turtles were struggling, but with no limbs they weren't going anywhere. Except into the fire.

Donnie was jerking around the most. He could feel the heat searing his flesh, the flames just inches away from his body. It wasn't supposed to end like this. He wasn't-

"Hey!"

Everyone turned to see Karai fly down like a freaking superhero. With a wave of her hand, the flames disappeared and the turtles regained their limbs.

"What is this?" The purple beaver growled.

"You want my soul?" Karai hovered before the creatures. She drew her sword before her. "Try and take it."

The red beaver lunged at her first. Karai flew above him, her sword a quick, sliver flash. She came down at him like an arrow. With a quick stab to the chest, the beaver dropped to the ground. Everyone stared in horror or awe as the body disintegrated almost instantly. All that was left were a few red flower petals.

The purple beaver and the brown beaver bolted down the pipes. They barred their huge teeth and swung their claws around. Karai dodged the blows. Taking a page from Ren, she took the brown beaver's large teeth in her glowing hands and snapped them clean off. Ignoring his cries of pain, she gouged his eyes out with his own teeth. Its head exploded, and the body evaporated as well. The purple beaver let out a roar. He charged, and Karai ducked, pulled out her sword, and cut his head clean off.

The light blue beaver was scurrying away. Karai leapt over empty turtle shells and landed in front of him.

"Going somewhere?' She smiled, barring her own teeth.

"Karai, wait." Michelangelo ran past his brothers, waving his arms. "Dave didn't mean it. He's nice." He tripped on an empty turtle shell. "Wait-"

She swung her sword, which glowed as bright as she did. The blue beaver screamed, and he, too disintegrated.

The glow faded. Karai steadied herself. Her aura was low, and with astral projection she didn't know how dangerous that could be. She looked up at the turtles. Michelangelo was looking at the place where the blue beaver had stood. He rubbed his eyes.

"He was going to kill you," she snapped. She looked at the others. The turtles looked at her like she was going to attack them any second.

"What? I saved your lives." She took a step forward, only to freeze when Raphael grabbed his brothers' arms and shoved them behind him. He stepped in front of his brothers with his arms out, shielding them.

"What the hell are you?"

Karai narrowed her eyes. No one said anything for a moment. Finally Karai spun around and stomped off in a huff.

"Karai, wait!" Leo pushed Raphael aside and took her arm, but she yanked it away.

"Next time you're all about to be killed, don't come crying to me."

* * *

Nothing's worse for a person waking up from a trance than a bright light. It was like shining a flash light into a sorority sister's hungover face. Karai tried to mover her hand to shield her eyes, but there was someone holding her arm.

"Karai? Karai, darling, are you alright?" Grandmother helped her sit up.

"Where am-oh God!"

Karai was lying in a bed in a back room behind the school infirmary. The white walls matched the sterile bed sheets and thin blanket. A big window by the door showed an empty hallway, while another on the opposite wall let in some late afternoon sunlight. Weiss and her Grandmother sat to one side, while on the other a machine was hooked to her arm, along with an IV tube.

"Why is there a _needle_ in my _arm_?" She felt the blood draining from her face.

"Standard procedure." A school doctor came over with a stethoscope and a clipboard. He placed the stethoscope on her chest. Karai didn't even notice until then that someone had taken off her armor. All she was wearing was a white tank top and shorts. When she started shaking, though, it wasn't because of the cold.

"Well get it _out!_ " Grandmother rubbed her back, muttering comforting words. Weiss came over to her other side and held her arm steady. The doctor wrote something down, then took her wrist to feel her pulse.

"It's okay," Weiss said, "once he checks your vitals you'll be free to go. Just breathe."

Karai shoved her away. "I'm fine."

"No need to be ashamed, Miss. . ." The doctor checked his chart. "Tang. We have forth year students freaking out every semester during checkups."

"I'm not scared. I just don't see the need for an IV tube in my arm."

"Would you prefer having it in your leg, then?' The doctor smiled. "Look, all I need to do is finish checking you over and you can leave. Says here. . ." He looked over his sheet. "You inhaled some smoke?"

"Um, yeah."

"Okay then." He placed the stethoscope on her chest again. "I'm going to need you to take a deep breathe. . ."

* * *

Mikey and Raph were sitting on the couch, watching TV. Mikey knew that Raph didn't like this show, which is made the fact that he chose to watch it with him even better.

"Look, look!" He pointed to the screen. "The evil wizard came back."

""No duh. They're like 10 minutes left." Raph chuckled as Mikey bounced up and down excitedly. He patted his little brother's head. "Hey Casey, hurry up with the popcorn."

"Yeah, I got it." Casey called out from the kitchen. He ran in with the bowl, plopping down on the couch next to Raph. "Casey Jones always delivers."

Leo, Donnie and Alopex were sitting at the kitchen table. Alopex was bent over his sketch pad, while Leo tried not to look over his shoulder.

"How's this?" Alopex held up his paper. There was Karai, right down to her makeup.

"It's perfect." Alopex ripped the paper out and handed it to Leo. Leo stared at the picture. Donnie peered over.

"You have a great sense of detail, Alopex. You should a sketch artist for law enforcement. Of course, eye witness testimony is notoriously spotty-"

"Do you think you could make a couple of extra copies? In case we need to show them to someone, to find her."

"Sure thing. I could even use colored pencils to make it easier to identify."

"Thank you." Leo reluctantly handed the picture back to him. Bidding them goodnight, he went upstairs to bed.

"So," Alopex said, pulling out another piece of paper. "Who is this girl, anyway?"

"Well, when our sensei was human, he had a baby girl named Miwa. He thought he lost her when Shredder burned his house down, but instead Shredder found her and raised her as his own. Her name became Karai, which means 'weapon.' And when the Foot clan came to New York, she was a weapon. She attacked us. When she found out the truth, Shredder locked her in a dungeon."

"Wow. That must have been hard for you guys."

"Yeah. Splinter didn't even want to tell us for a while."

"Where is she now?"

"We don't know. When we came to try to save her, she was gone, and the whole place looked like someone blasted fire balls everywhere. We don't have any idea how she escaped or where she is now."

Alopex put his hand over Donnie's. "I don't know how my sister is doing, either."

"It's not like that. I mean, Mikey called her our sister, but Raph still sees her as the enemy. And Leo kind of has a crush on her."

"Yeah, I can't really say I can relate to that one." They both laughed. Alopex went back to drawing, using his first sketch as reference.

"So," he said. "What do you think of Karai?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. Enemy, sister, lov-"

"Not that one." Alopex grinned. "I don't know. I think of her as Splinter's daughter, for sure. But as for sister, I guess I haven't really gotten to know her yet."

"Do you want to?"

Donnie remembered being next to the fire. Even after seeing the beavers destroyed, he was a bit scared to go to sleep. Right before Karai flew in, Donnie thought he was going to die. But when he saw her, he felt more than just relief. He felt safe. Karai made the giant mutant "Justin," poisoned Splinter and beat up April. She tried to kill them. Several times. But on the conveyer belt, he just knew that she was going to protect them, as fiercely as any member of his clan would.

"Yes," he said softly. "I do."


	17. Names and places

Fixing an alien spacecraft is not as exciting as one might think.

Not only do the mechanics need to be figured out, which takes a while because the planet is so goddamn advanced, but alien ships are often built using alien metal. Which, surprisingly enough, doesn't mesh perfectly well with scraps from half a broken car, an old radio and some empty beer cans some kind soul left on the side of the road. It was slow going, to say the least.

But Donnie was up to the challenge.

"Ahh!"

Until he was knocked backwards after the main engine tried to electrocute him.

"Donatello!' Alopex jumped down from the ship's roof and ran right over. Kneeling down next to him, he helped Donnie sit up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He grimaced as Alopex pulled him up by his arms. Donnie rubbed his neck; he didn't get a lot of sleep the last few days. "Just didn't see the loose wire."

"Sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, positive." Donnie leaned over the hood of the ship. Casey was out testing out the new and improved car. They were going to catch the mutant speed manic that night.

"I still have no idea where I'm headed next. Maybe I should just go back to my foster family and be adopted into the clan." He walked over to the hood, looking over Donnie's shoulder. "But it just, I don't know."

"Wrench," Donnie said. Alopex dug through the toolbox. Donnie took a step back, hand on his chin. He took the wrench without looking.

"It's been fun traveling around this past year, but I'm kind of getting sick of it."

"You could stay with us." Donnie bent over and tightened a screw on the accelerator.

"What?"

"You could live with us. I don't think Splinter would mind. We had this old storage room we were going to give to Karai. Maybe not forever, but maybe until you know what you want to do."

"Would your sensei mind?"

"I don't think so." Splinter probably would mind, but Donnie figured that with all the quotes and sayings his sensei said, one of them could be used to justify the situation. Besides,

Alopex and Donnie watched

Finally Alopex turned to Donnie. "Thank you, but no."

"No?"

"I've imposed long enough. And it wouldn't be much different than what I had before."

"You could go home."

"No."

"You don't know how your parents will react. Maybe they'll be okay with it."

"It's not just that." Alopex sat up. He hugged his knees to his chest. "I think I might put my family in danger."

Donnie glanced over at the ship. He thought back to times when Casey, when April, were in danger because of some mutant or Kraang attack. "Yeah, I hear you."

"I'll figure it out."

"Well, come back and visit, okay?"

There was a loud bang from the ship. The boys darted inside the ship. The buttons weren't lighting up like they were supposed to, and there was smoke coming from a panel.

Donnie pulled his head out. "I'm going to need the pliers."

"I got it." Alopex dug through the pile of tools Casey left on the floor and pulled out the pliers. He handed them to Donnie, their hands touching a couple moments longer than necessary.

* * *

Donnie shut the hood of the ship with a loud, satisfied click.

"There. All we need to do is fix the wing and we should be all set."

"I seriously can't thank you enough for this, Donatello," Alopex said. The boys started walking back up to the farmhouse.

Donnie rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Um, well, you're welcome."

The boys continued on in silence. Donnie took the opportunity to admire the woods. It would be the thing he would miss the most about the farmhouse. Being out in the sunshine, seeing the leaves cast shadows on the grass. Oh, grass. He would really miss grass. The only times he saw grass back home was when he broke into a greenhouse. If only he could go to a park.

Donnie glanced over at Alopex. He would miss him, too. For all his easy going ways, Alopex had a certain wisdom. Mikey had already begun focus more in training since they've been spending more time with him. And they'd all been really grateful for the pictures he drew of them, of Karai, of Splinter. He had an amazing eye for detail.

"Hey, Alopex," Donnie said when they reached the edge of the woods.

"Yeah?"

"You can call me Donnie, if you want. I mean, I think we've known each other for a while. Our sensei only uses our full names, though, so whatever works." Donnie noticed that Alopex had stopped walking. He was looking down at his shoes, as though they were about to mutate any second. Given all that has happened in the past couple of months, it was possible.

"Alopex?"

"Can we talk in your barn for a second?"

"Um, yeah."

Inside the barn, Donnie locked the door. He didn't want anyone to barge in. Alopex looked uncomfortable enough.

"Look, you can't tell anyone about this." Alopex paced the room

"Okay."

"I'm serious. Not even your brothers."

"I promise."

Alopex sighed. "Alopex isn't my real name."

"Huh?"

Alopex leaned against the table, avoiding eye contact. "I was 12 years old, traveling to another kingdom by ship. One day I overheard two passengers saying something about an attack on several business executives. I tried to investigate, see what was going on. And I found out they were doing more than just assassinations. It was this whole elaborate plan to take over the kingdom. From what little I heard, it hasn't happened yet."

"What happened?"

"They handed me over to the Kraang to experiment on. I broke free pretty quickly, but I landed in another dimension. I stayed there for four years before figuring out how to leave."

"But now you can go home."

Alopex shook his head. "No, I can't. They know my name, and they know my friends and family. If I set foot in my dimension, I put everyone at risk."

"But if they were planning something like that, not saying anything would put everyone at risk."

"Well, why should I have to do it? There are Huntsmen and police and the freaking army. Why should I have to be the hero?"

"Look-"

"No, you look. Do you have any idea what it's like to be forced out of your home, without any idea if your loved ones are. . ."

Alopex snapped his mouth shut. Donnie slowly got to his feet, leaning on his bo staff like he was weighed down by his life.

"You know, for, a nice guy, you can be kind of a jerk sometimes."

Alopex pushed past him and stomped out of the barn.

"Wait," Donnie called out. Alopex stuck his head back inside. "So what's your real name?"

"Robin Star. My foster family are the only ones who know that, besides you."

"Why me?"

"God, Donnie, for a smart guy, you can be kind of dense sometimes."

* * *

Violet paced the floor of the dorm room. Mona Lisa sat cross legged on her bed, while Karai and Sapphire watched from their desk chairs. A white board was tacked against the door.

"Okay, so we know that a group of people are conspiring against Vale, and are working with aliens called the Kraang." Violet drew two boxes, 'conspiracy' and 'Kraang.' "The first group is led by a leader known as the queen."

"I'm sorry, but that sounds like the start of a comic book." Mona Lisa held up the latest copy of Mutant League.

"We also know that the Kraang want Dust," Violet said, ignoring her," "and are trading mutagen for it. But we don't know what said mutagen is or what exactly it does." She drew and labeled two more boxes, adding arrows when needed. "Finally, we know these Kraang can disguise themselves and are probably walking the streets as we speak."

"But with the way they talk, it can't be too hard to identify them," Sapphire noted.

"True."

"Also they met at the docks." Karai, who had been rather quiet, got up and took the marker from Violet. She drew a rough sketch of the kingdom and put a dot near the docks. "We also spotted them near a movie theater." She added a dot nearby. "The Kraang's hideout is probably in downtown Vale somewhere."

Violet took back the marker and wrote down a couple of bullet points. "Sapphire, pull up a map of downtown Vale. Maybe we could see if any empty or abandoned buildings have recently been bought or rented."

Everyone gathered around Sapphire's desk as she typed furiously on her laptop. A map of businesses popped up.

"There." Karai pointed to a name. "TCRI. What's that?"

Sapphire clicked the link. "A research corporation. They opened up less than a year ago. There's not much else here."

"They weren't on the list of places that were robbed, which is weird considering a research facility should have a lot of Dust, Mona Lisa said. "Nice one, Karai."

"Just lucky, I guess." Karai took a couple steps back from the others.

"Well then." Violet made another mark on the whiteboard map. "Let's see what the TCRI are up to."


	18. Aliens and demons

The TCRI building was practically unguarded. No guards on the side entrance, crappy cameras that were didn't even move. There wasn't even a guard dog. Karai didn't know if she should feel lucky or insulted. In less than 30 seconds she picked the lock, and like shadows she and Violet snuck inside a dark, industrial hallway.

"Hey Karai-"

"Yeah, I know," Karai interrupted. "Whatever we find we hand over to the authorities."

"I was going ask about what happened last week. With you in the infirmary." Violet put a hand on her shoulder. "Talk to me."

Karai rolled her eyes. "I already said it was nothing, alright? There was smoke in the music room, some blown fuse. I wasn't paying attention."

"Yeah, that makes sense. You're practically a ninja and you don't notice when the walls are practically on _fire_."

Karai stopped herself from blurting out Japanese swear words. Stopped herself from tripping an alarm so she could take her anger out on the Kraang.

Stopped herself from admitting that went she went back to her room, she ran into the bathroom and pretended to take a shower, then let the water drown out the sound of her crying.

She didn't know if she was an actual orphan, but she knew she had no clan, no master. So she didn't want to think about Earth anymore. Right now all that mattered was protecting Vale. Her family, her home, her future all lie here.

So instead, Karai took one of Violet's loose curls and twirled it around her finger. "Oh my god, just drop it already. You're taking the fun out of this."

Violet snatched her hair back. In the darkness it was hard to see that she was blushing. But Karai knew that she was. "This isn't fun. Recon is serious. We need to be serious."

"Vi, if you were any more serious, you'd be dead." Karai continued on towards the corridor, pretending not to notice Violet's goddamn-it expression.

At the end, the glow of alien machinery shone underneath a closed door. A door that was also rather easy to pick. The two girls silently crept into the chamber.

Karai thought the Kraang HQ didn't look that different than the TCRI in New York, where she made that mutant squid thing. (Once in a while Karai wonders what happened to that thing. For all she knew, it could have escaped into the ocean and mated with local wildlife. She could have started a whole new species.) Except instead of a large container of mutagen, in the center was a ship. It was spherical and futuristic looking, with glowing pink lines that bathed the room in an unnatural light. A few Kraang were milling about, making adjustments and working on screens of some kind. They all looked up in unison when they heard a large explosion from the front of the building. The sound of Mona Lisa yelling was barely heard over rapid gun fire and exploding arrows. Every single Kraang left to check it out, leaving the ship conveniently unguarded.

Violet stood watch while Karai pulled a flask of water from her pocket. She strolled over to the alien spacecraft and casually poured the water on some open circuits. There were a few sparks, and the thing stopped glowing. She smiled. This was almost too easy. Meanwhile, Violet was going through files on one of the screens the Kraang left on. "It looks like the Kraang are planning something on Earth."

Karai sighed. "What?"

"Some kind of invasion."

Before Karai could ask more, she ducked as a laser missed her head by inches. That Kraang were back.

And they brought a friend.

The thing was tall, at least four stories. It looked like a humanoid made of stone, a statue come to life. It brought its fist down on Violet, who barely leapt away in time. Pulling out her weapon, she fired three shots at the creature. The rock monster didn't even flinch. Karai's sword didn't help, either. He stumbled when Mona Lisa and Sapphire came in and fired bullets and burning arrows into his chest. But that only stopped him for a second, and he soon righted himself. Violet was about to lasso her whip when a Kraang pressed a button on a screen.

A greenish gas filled the air. Karai's suddenly felt like her lungs were on fire. Her vision blurred as her body begged for oxygen. She dropped her sword. The Kraang watched emotionlessly as Team VKSM collapsed to the floor like rag dolls.

On second thought, maybe this wasn't that easy after all.

* * *

Chasing a mutant speed demon was easier said than done.

Especially when it has your friend hostage.

Casey drove the new hot rod at screw-you-speed-limit speed. A mutant chicken was typing out instructions with her beak while Alopex sat shotgun, crossbow at the ready. They ripped along the winding road, speeding through sharp curves. They were just a few feet away from falling over the side of a mountain, yet neither boy seemed that concerned.

"How far is he, Doc?" The chicken started typing with his beak. On the screen stuck to the dashboard, two cars were depicted driving towards each other.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Alopex leaned against the door, aiming his crossbow at the road before them. His red jacket whipped in the wind like a cape.

"As sure as I ever am."

"How reassuring," Alopex laughed, hiding his worry. But despite being a mutant himself, Alopex didn't have much experience fighting them. And seeing what happened to Donnie was disturbing, to say the least.

Casey slapped him across the back. "Time to see what this baby can really do."

They speed even faster around the bend, coming up behind the mutant car. Donnie stuck out of the hood of the car, looking demonic and deformed. The hot rod slammed into the bumper of the other car. Donnie cackled. With his huge arms he shoved their aside and cut in front of them. Alopex gripped the side of the car. The boys crashed into the bumper again.

"Let my friend go, creep!" Casey spun the wheel like a bumper car ride. Alopex steadied himself and aimed at the back tires of the car. He released the trigger, but the mutant car swerved aside.

"Nice try, but Donatello belongs to Speed Demon now, baby." Casey hit the side of the car, full force. Alopex screamed as both cars spun out of control. They luckily, barely stopped at the edge of the road. Alopex's seatbelt had him in a death grip like it was punishing him.

Donnie cackled again. "You know, I'm a sporting guy. So how about we race for it? You win, you get your friend back. I win, and I get that super hot rod and sweet technology."

Alopex lowered his crossbow, slightly. "Fair enough."

"And, I get you, Casey Jones." Casey froze. "The only drover worthy of my competition."

"Well, I am super dope. It's a deal."

"And one more thing. No arrows."

Alopex barred his sharp teeth. Casey grabbed his arm. "For Donnie, dude."

Reluctantly, Alopex tossed his weapon into a nearby bush. "Fine."

"First one to Dead Man's Curve wins." The mutant car's engine roared. "Starting now!"

Speed Demon drove off. Casey pressed his foot on the gas and raced after him. In the rearview mirror Alopex could just see the van in the distance. He gripped his door again, trying not to puke.

"I can't pass him." The mutant car wove in and out of the lane, blocking Casey every time he tried to get through.

"Do something!"

"On it." Casey flipped a switch. Alopex turned around and saw the startled chicken pop out a glowing green egg. It disappeared down a funnel.

"This planet is messed up," he groaned. Suddenly the car started sparking. Casey flipped another switch, and they shot forward like a bullet on cocaine.

"GONGALA!"

Casey caught up next to Speed Demon. "Take the wheel."

"What!?" But Casey already leapt off the hood of the car and was wrestling demonic Donnie. Alopex unclicked his seatbelt and grabbed the wheel. He awkwardly swerved as the road wound around the mountain.

"Seriously," he called out to Casey, "I already crashed a space ship." But Casey was too busy trying to exorcise the demon via cattle prod.

Casey jumped back on to the hot rod and hit the car again. The Speed Demon retaliated, sending Alopex flying straight into a tree.

"Alopex!" Casey screamed and slammed into the other car again. Speed Demon lost control long enough for Casey to cut in front and skid to a stop at the sign "Dead Man's Curve." Speed Demon was not so lucky. It crashed straight into the mountain.

"Donnie, Donnie you okay?"

Donnie slowly emerged from the smoke and wreckage. "Yeah I, I think so. Where's Alopex?"

Before Casey could answer, they heard the sound of an engine roaring.

"Oh, sewer apples."

The demon car stopped in front of them. It opened its hood, showing its horror movie fangs.

"I'm going to chew you up and spit you out, Jones."

"I got it this time, Casey." Donnie charged straight at the car and stuck his staff right in the hood. It snapped in two. Donnie was knocked off the car and landed on his back in the road right in front of it. The car's engine roared like an angry bull. It sped right for him.

"Donnie," Casey yelled. "Look out!"

Donnie tried to get up, but his body was still weak from whatever the Speed Demon did to him. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself.

_"No!"_

Donnie blinked. "Huh?"

Alopex had jumped in front of them. A bright, force field like energy radiated from his hands. The car had hit the shield like a brick wall.

"You're going to wish I kept the arrows."

With a wave of his hand Alopex shoved his force field against the car, hurtling it off the cliff.

* * *

The room was cold, sterile and creepy. Karai pushed herself to a sitting position. She felt like she actually did inhale too much smoke. The others were coming to.

Mona Lisa groaned. "What the Hell was that?"

Sapphire coughed. "Poison gas."

"Those slimy little bastards."

Karai was already up and scanning the room. It looked like some kind of holding cell. The walls were dark save for two fluorescent pink lines running the length of the room. Through a window they could see into the metal hallway. Of course all their weapons were gone and they had no idea where they were. She tried the door. Seems the Kraang learned their lesson, because it didn't budge.

Violet gently pushed her aside. "Allow me." A spark of lightning shot out of her hand. With a little tap, the door glowed and opened. "Let's go."

VKSM crept down the hallway single file. Their footsteps echoed slightly through the strange metal that seemed to make up the whole building, but it wasn't loud enough to be detected. Still, Karai flinched with every sound they made. Huntresses weren't naturally stealthy. It made sense, considering what their duties were. But it still killed her every time Mona Lisa's tail banged against the wall.

"Are we still in the building," Sapphire asked.

"Maybe. We don't know how long we've been out." Violet stuck her head around a corner, then gestured the others to follow. Suddenly the clear sound of robots walking bounced against the walls. Everyone ducked into an empty closet as more Kraang passed by. It was cramped; Karai was pressed so close to her partner that she could smell the fruity shampoo in her hair.

"Kraang, when is the time of arrival to the place known as Earth."

"A time that is known as 5 hours."

"Arrival?" Karai leaned close to the door. "You don't think-"

The loud roar of engines interrupted her thoughts.

_Kuso._


	19. Meanwhile at Beacon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has PG 13 stuff, just a heads up.

Blake probably should have known that this was a stupid idea. Really, she had no one to blame but herself.

Yang strode right up to the burly, mustached bouncer, put one hand on her hip, and smiled.

"Can I see some IDs, please?"

Yang pretended to check her pockets. "Oh, I'm sorry. We must have left them back at Beacon."

"Beacon?" The man raised his sunglasses. "Beacon Academy?"

"Yeah. We're forth years." Yang nudged Blake, who pulled out her scroll and quickly showed her school ID, covering up the year with her thumb. Yang, meanwhile, was sticking out her chest, showing off cleavage that could actually belong to a 21-year-old.

"Alright then." The man pulled aside the rope and let the girls in. As they walked past, he gave a little salute.

The club was dark, save for a few flashing lights overhead. Employees were setting up the stage for some performance. Meanwhile, someone was playing loud techno crap and people danced around or sat in little booths along the walls. Yang plopped herself down in one near the bar.

"What's this place called again?" Blake carefully sat down, smelling the not so faint scent of weed.

"Abra Cadabra," Yang called out over the music. "Having fun yet?"

"Not really."

"Maybe you just need to relax." Yang gestured to a cute red headed waiter. He grinned and sauntered across the room towards them.

"You know I don't drink."

"Oh, they're not just here for booze."

* * *

 

_The royal blacksmith took the magic crystals and melted them into ore. He cast them over the sword, transforming the weapon of a knight into the tool of the mages of lore. When it was cooled the saber glowed white like moonlight._

" _Thanks to you, sir," the Red Huntress said._

" _Good luck to you, my lady."_

Ruby pulled out some more cookies from her bag. Ms. Chardonnay told her to research her character, so she had checked out an old book of fairytales her sister used to read to her. Roses and Thorns. The Red Huntress was one of her favorites.

_The Red Huntress held the sword before her. She tested the weight of it in her hand, striking to and fro._

" _With that in hand, no beast alive could survive you."_

_The lady turned to face the blacksmith. Holding her hand over her heart, she made her vow._

" _I swear by the soul of my mother, my grandmother and her mother before her, I will slay the Beast of-"_

Knock, knock. "Ruby," Jaune asked.

Ruby closed her book. Opening the door, she faced a bewildered looking Jaune. "Yeah?"

Jaune peered into her room. "Is Karai here? Is she with Weiss?"

"Karai? No, I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her since class yesterday."

"What about Sapphire? Have you seen her anywhere?"

"No."

"We were supposed to rehearse our lines, but they never showed up." Jaune came in and sat down at a desk chair. "Neither one will pick up. And I can't find them anywhere. In fact I can't find anyone on Team VKSM."

Ruby frowned. "I'll call Weiss. Maybe they're at Professor Tang's house or Sapphire's."

"Should we tell Professor Goodwitch?"

"Not yet. After all, they're huntresses in training. I'm sure they can handle, well, whatever needs handling."

* * *

 

Ren wasn't very dramatic by nature. So he had thought that tech crew would suit him well. But he hadn't counted on the fact that the control room would have this many buttons. He flipped through the instruction book. That annoying guy from Port's class was supposed to be helping him, but he was busy using one of the screens to play some game.

"There is only room for one queen here, my dear." Nora cackled wickedly from the center of the stage. "And I'm afraid that it isn't you."

"You won't get away with this." Weiss stood at stage right, near the fog machine. She drew her wooden sword and took a fighting stance.

"Oh, but I will." Nora threw her hands in the air; that was his cue. Ren flipped the switch labelled "red." The stage light turned from yellow to green.

"Cut." Weiss turned her head to the control room, and even the thick glass couldn't stop the power of her death glare. Ren ducked down to avoid her gaze. "Would it be too much to ask to try the _red_ light?"

On his hands and knees, Ren quickly scanned the page on lights. It wasn't very helpful, so he opted for trying the switch marked "green."

"No, the red that's not blue!"

"They're doing the best they can," he heard Nora yell.

"How hard is it to follow simple instructions?" Ren heard a small crash, and a loud "thump" from the stage. A few stage hands started yelling.

"Nora!" Ren sighed. At this point they might as well call it a night.

"Sorry. It was an accident." Ren started to stand up, to see what the damage was. As he got to his feet his elbow accidently hit a button.

"I'm surrounded by- _AHH!"_ Ren got up and saw the fog machine blasting steam straight into Weiss' face. Ren tried to find the right button. According to the instructions, it was the one closest to the headphones. He pressed it.

The stage light turned red.

Ren saw Weiss stomp off the stage and quickly exited the control booth. He sneaked out the back exit just in time.

* * *

 

Blake moaned. The waiter-Roy?-had her pressed against the wall of a supply closet. Her wrists were held against the wall while he licked her neck. It was driving her crazy. She couldn't remember the last time she did something like this.

"You should come here more often, babe." Roy pressed his face into her hair and breathed deeply.

"Maybe I should." She freed one of her hands and slipped it under his shirt. "Maybe I will."

Roy chuckled. He lifted his head and placed his lips on hers. Blake could tell he had a lot of experience with this. One of his hands moved up to tug off her shirt. She helped him pull it off.

"Like what you see," she asked softly. He didn't say anything. His hands did the talking. Blake leaned back against the wall. She wondered if there was a better place to go, maybe a staff lounge, somewhere with a couch.

"Then she was unbuttoning his shirt.

"Like what you see?"

She did. He was no warrior, but he was pretty fit.

They went back to kissing. Blake took his face in her hands, pulling him close. One of his hands ran up and down her back. The other was playing with her hair, twirling it in between his fingers. Blake was so distracted, she almost forgot until he started playing with her bow and accidently pulled at her ear.

"Wait, I-"

It was too late. The ribbon fell from her ears. Roy froze. "You're a _fanus_?"

"I-"

" _Ew!_ Oh, damn, ew!" He threw the ribbon on the ground and jumped off of her like she was contagious. "You could have given me rabies, freak." He left without even buttoning his shirt up, slamming the door behind him. The force of the door caused an empty glass bottle to crash to the floor.

Blake stood there against the wall for a minute, trying to catch her breathe. Outside the door she could hear rave music blaring over loud speakers. Feet thumped and stomped. People screamed trying to be heard. The vibrations beat into through the walls into her body, washing over her, erasing her. With a sigh, Blake picked up her ribbon and retied it.

There was a reason why she didn't something like this.

* * *

 

"Are you done yet?"

"Almost. Hold still."

Velvet stood in the center of her dorm room, wearing a mostly sewn dress. Coco knelt down in front of her, taking in the hem.

It was a beautiful dress, yellow and red striped with fancy Atlesian lace. Velvet fingered the soft fabric.

"There. Let me see." Coco circled her teammate. With a keen eye she inspected her work room every angle.

"Not bad. I'll need to make a couple of adjustments."

"It's beautiful. Thank you." Velvet hugged her. Coco wasn't a very touchy feely person, but she had gotten used to Velvet's signs of affection.

"You look lovely, Velvet," Yatsuhashi said. Velvet blushed.

"It looks nice," Fox called out from his bed. It would have meant more if he had looked up from his magazine.

"I'm glad you think so, Fox." Coco snatched his magazine from his hands and whacked him with it. "Because you're next."

"I have detention tomorrow."

"For what?"

"Breaking Cardin Winchester's legs."

* * *

 

Yang swung her hips and jumped from side to side. In one hand she held a shot of vodka. It was her second. Not nearly as much as some other people.

"I'm telling you," a guy in front of her was saying, "the guy had a squid in his stomach. And it made these weird squeaking noises."

The guy he dancing with wrapped his arms around his waist. "Babe, how about we take a cab home?"

"You're not listening to me."

"Yang?"

Blake was making her way through the dance floor, squeezing awkwardly between bodies grinding at each other.

"Hey, how'd it go with Roger?" Yang winked.

"I think I'm going to call it a night."

"What? Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Can we go, please?"

Yang studied her partner. Blake wasn't really making eye contact. She was looking at the floor. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her jaw was clenched and her shirt was a bit askew. She sounded like she might have been crying.

Yang pushed past Blake and marched straight over to the bar, where the red headed waiter was tending. "Hey, Roger?"

"Yang," Blake put a hand on her shoulder, "don't."

The red headed waiter looked from Yang to Blake to Yang again. "It's Ray."

"I don't know what you did, but you owe my friend an apology." Yang leaned over the counter, eyes red.

Ray snorted. "I owe her an apology? I'm not the one who-"

She took her drink and splashed him across the face. He screamed as the vodka burned in his eyes.

Yang took Blake's hand. "Let's go."

* * *

 

The guy from Port's class had finished level 67 of Smoothie Smash, so he decided to go see if Ren needed his help. But when he got to the control booth, it was empty. Must have went to the bathroom or something.

Suddenly Weiss Schnee slammed opened the door. She looked like she was going to kill someone. Even more than usual. _"You!"_

"Wha-ow! Ow! I didn't do it. Not the face! OW!"


	20. Lotus Blossom

"Well," Donnie said, "I guess you're all set." He adjusted a couple wires and slammed the panel shut.

The ship was ready. The others had already said their goodbyes, but Donnie wanted to make sure everything was working right. (Casey had smirked when they got on the ship, and April kept looking back as though she was afraid Donnie would leave with Alopex.) So now the two boys were alone in the ship, checking everything.

"So do you have everything you need?"

"You mean besides bedding, first aid kit, enough snacks to last for a week and a flare gun?"

Donnie grinned. His family could be worrywarts sometimes, especially with everything that happened in the last few months.

"Well I hope wherever you're going, you'll be okay. And come back and visit if you want."

"I'm going home."

"What?"

Alopex smiled at Donnie's surprised look. "I've been thinking, ever since the demon car. I used to think there was nothing I could do to stop those people from taking over my kingdom. But what if all that training I had, all that traveling, prepared me." He unsheathed his sword with a flourish. "Maybe I can protect my family. Maybe I can protect my people. Maybe I can stop them."

"You're doing the right thing, Alo-Robin. And you're really brave for doing this."

"It's thanks to you. You really, inspired me, Donnie."

Donnie felt his face get hot. He hoped Alopex didn't notice. "From what I've seen, you're pretty incredible."

Alopex stopped smiling. He walked over to the panel and stood facing Donnie. He moved in closer until the boys were almost touching. Donnie didn't say anything. He didn't know what was going on. It could be some sort of goodbye ritual from his homework. Or he could have something in his eye and needed help getting it out. Or, since foxes have a strong sense of smell, maybe he was remembering his scent.

But instead, Alopex took Donnie's face in his hands and pulled him forward, until their lips touched. Touched gently but firmly, and stayed there for God knows how long because time ceased to be a concept. It felt a lot different than when April kissed him, but it still made him freeze up.

Alopex took his lips and his hands away and stepped back. "I'm sorry I'm so sorry. God, I'm an idiot. Look, if I freaked you out-"

"No, um, I mean, it's not that." Donnie leaned against the wall. "It was just surprising."

"I like you."

"I like you, too."

The fox boy's big blue eyes grew even bigger. "You do?"

Why was he so shocked, Donnie wondered. Didn't he realize how amazing he was? How funny, how insightful, how compassionate? Even if he could talk to people and roam the city freely, Donnie doubted he would ever find someone like him.

"Yes I do. It's just that I like April, too. And April isn't leaving."

"Oh. Yeah, I understand." Alopex crossed his arms over his chest and grinned nonchalantly. Donnie knew he was hurt. He also knew that this had to be the most awkward moment in his life, and that was really saying something. Here he was, caught between two people, both wonderful and flawed and strange and incredible, pulling him in a dizzy, heart wrenching tug of war. Did April ever feel like that?

Donnie headed to the door, his hand on the handle. He looked back and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I guess I'll see you."

Alopex gave a little smile. "If you're ever in Remnant, look me up."

"Wait, Remnant?" It couldn't be. Could it?

"Yeah, that's the planet I'm from."

"Can you keep a secret?" Donnie grabbed Alopex's jacket and pulled him away from the window. "Even April and Casey don't know about this."

"What is it?"

Donnie could feel his heart beating in his chest. He didn't know if Sensei would approve or not, but he couldn't pass this opportunity up. "Okay, well, you see Tang Shen, Splinter's late wife and Karai's mother, is supposed to be from China, a country next to Japan. But really she was from another world called Remnant."

"Are you serious? I thought no one on Remnant knew about other worlds."

"Sensei told us never to tell anyone, because people from Remnant could come after us someday."

Alopex raised an eyebrow. "Who would come after you? We're not looking to attack anyone. We're in a time of peace."

"Tang Shen's ex-husband. I forget his name, but from what Splinter said he's basically a very, very distant Shredder. And that makes it worse because Tang Shen and he had a daughter."

"A daughter?"

"Yeah, around a year older than Karai. She came to Earth for a while and Sensei adopted her and named her Lotus Blossom. But her birth father came and took her back. Shredder attacked a few days later. Sensei tried to get her back, but then he got mutated."

"And you want me to find her?"

"If you can. Splinter didn't say much. All I know she was small and pale as a baby. She might not even go by the same name."

"I'll see what I can do."

"I can't even say how much that would mean to all of us. We never thought we'd ever even have a chance meet her."

"Don't mention it. Now we're even. You saved my life, I saved yours. You kept my secret, I'll keep yours."

"Not quite." Before he could lose his nerve, Donnie planted his lips on Alopex's mouth. He didn't tilt his head quite right, and his eyes remained wide open. Unsure hands gripped the other boy's arms tightly. But he wasn't that concerned. As the son of a great ninja master, he knew practice makes perfect.

* * *

 

Violet rubbed her head. If her Aura had been depleted she was pretty sure she would have gotten a concussion from all that bouncing around in the escape pod. Now they had landed, more or less, in some sort of forest. A forest with blood red trees. She looked away as Sapphire stuck her head in a bush to vomit. Mona Lisa and Karai were already standing alert, weapons drawn.

"Where are we?" Karai looked up at the trees, searching for any sign of danger.

"I guess we're on Earth," Violet responded.

"No, not Earth."

Mona Lisa snorted. "How would you know? Have you ever been to Earth?"

Sapphire emerged from the bushes looking somewhat green.

"Are you okay," Violet asked.

"Yeah. Sorry, I'm just not used to all that bumping around."

"Neither were the Kraang," Karai said.

_The Kraang guarding the door to the bridge shot at VKSM as they ran straight towards them. Mona Lisa punched two robots in the head, while Karai kicked another one down. Sapphire took their hands; Violet held her shoulders. As more Kraang came around the corner the girls teleported inside._

_The Kraang inside were too startled to stop the girls from grabbing their weapons from a bench and only got around to shooting when Violet had already short circuited the opening pad. The girls and the robot aliens began to fight, which wasn't that great for either side given the close quarters._

_Mona Lisa took the main controls, only to be greeted by a grid of identical blank buttons. She pressed one at random, and the whole ship dipped sharply to the right._

_Everyone either grabbed on to something or slammed against the wall. Ignoring the cries of her teammates, Mona Lisa tried again. The ship lurched to a stop. Several robots hit smack against the window, and one alien fell out of its suit and got stuck on a big computer screen._

_There was a loud banging at the door. More Kraang were going to come in at any second. Third time's the charm._

_A hatch slid open near the window. Inside was what looked to be an escape pod. As more Kraang began breaking down the door, VKSM scrambled inside._

" _Where are we going," Sapphire asked._

_Mona Lisa closed the door. "Away from here."_

The girls had only been hiking through the woods for about five minutes when they saw a figure emerge through the trees. Violet held Karai's wrist to stop her from charging.

"We don't know if they mean harm. Wait."

So the girls waited as a middle aged man tripped over foliage and swatted at bugs. By the time he got over to them he was out of breathe. Even Karai didn't see him as a threat.

"Greetings, young travelers. I saw you crash out here and thought you might need assistance. My name is Professor Honeycutt. Welcome to the Federation."

Alopex set the ship to autopilot. The coordinates were Beacon Academy, Vale. He knew he probably would be captured on sight, but he knew the Huntsmen would hear him out before doing anything. Professor Ozpin was well known for his patience and strategy, not to mention his commitment to equality. At the very least once he proved who he was they would let him see his family. But he didn't know if he wanted his family to see him.

Gazing out the window, Alopex watched as distant stars and planets flew past him. He then reached for his weapon and looked at the handle. The bright blue star on the hilt of his sword seemed almost as distant.

A sudden jolt interrupted his thoughts. On either side of the ship Federation fleet ships grabbed on with energy projection rays. The communication screen blinked on. A man in military uniform glared at him.

"Unidentified alien, you are under arrest for stealing and defacing a Federation military spacecraft."


	21. None of your damn business

Professor Honeycutt's kitchen was well stocked with ready-made dinners and freeze dried everything. Cooking, like brushing his hair, seemed like time better spent on research. But tonight he had guests, so he got out some spices and the fire extinguisher. The dishwasher was turned on, as was the news on the wall screen for background noise. But as he knelt down in front of the refrigerator, checking expiration dates and sniffing jars cautiously, the only passable thing the professor could find was a container of brown, uh, something.

"Need any help?" He turned his head and was face to face with a pair of white boots. White boots and a symbol that seemed vaguely familiar. His eyes went up, taking in the feminine dress, the steel bo staff to finally the face. Star Fire, no Sapphire, that was her name. She wrinkled her nose at the smell from the fridge.

"That would be wonderful my dear, thank you. I'm afraid I don't have many guests."

"Back at my house we have people over a lot. My mom's a dancer and my dad's a playwright. Growing up there were all these cast parties and workshops." She opened the freezer and dug out some frozen spinach and chicken tenders from the back.

"The last person I had stay over for dinner was months ago. Another young traveler like you." Professor Honeycutt watched as she boiled a pot of water. "So are you girls settling in okay?"

Sapphire smiled. "Oh yes, thank you. It's so nice of to let us stay here, not to mention take us back."

Professor Honeycutt had to fly out to another planet in three days to gather some supplies for his prototype teleportal. The world of Remnant was a little out of the way (as well as forbidden territory, for a good reason), but he would manage.

"It must be exciting, traveling the galaxy and stuff."

"It can be, but in all my travels I've found no planet yet that can rival this one in beauty or livability."

"There's no place like home, they say."

The two listened to the news for a while, with Sapphire asking questions about interstellar travel and the cultural customs. As he watched the girl expertly chop the spinach and season the chicken Professor Honeycutt couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about her. Which was rather odd, because these girls specifically said they never left their planet before.

The banner "breaking news" flashed in front of the screen. The reporter showed a picture of a humanoid fox wielding a katana.

Alopex.

"Oh dear."

"What is it Professor?"

"The boy, the traveler I mentioned." Professor Honeycutt turned up the screen volume.

" _The boy who managed to steal a military space craft two months ago was finally apprehended. Officials are not releasing any details on the boy's identity or possible motives at this time." A clip of a humanoid adolescent fox, this time being escorted into a military holding center, was shown._

The lad had was a bit reckless to be sure. But Professor Honeycutt didn't know he was _that_ reckless. "Poor Alopex. Perhaps I can intercede with the general. Sapphire?"

Sapphire had dropped the chicken. She was looking at the boy on the screen, or rather his sword. Professor Honeycutt realized what was so familiar about the symbols on her shoes. An outline of an eight pointed star with a smaller, blue one inside.

It was the same symbol on Alopex's sword.

"Are you-"

She was already running down the hall before he could finish his sentence.

* * *

Taking a walk to clear one's head is overrated. Trudging and tripping through the fall leaves in some random woods only left Weiss more irritated. But pacing her dorm room only got her concerned look from Yang and Blake (Ruby was out). And walking to her grandmother's house seemed pointless since she was on another mission. So trudging it was.

Her sister's team had only been missing for a day, so there wasn't an alert yet. It was a long weekend, and sometimes students did some "independent study" and come back in a day or so no worse for wear. But the last time Karai vanished she was attacked by an Ursa. Not to mention that weird meditation thing that she didn't even want to talk about. Weiss figured that her sister could probably handle herself just fine in Japan, stupidity and all. But she had only been in Vale 6 months.

She didn't even have any Dust.

Weiss saw a clearing through the trees in front of her. There was the familiar growl of a Beowulf. Weiss held her sword at the ready. But the growl turned into a choked howl, and then silence. There was a spark of red in between the trees, and it wasn't a leaf.

"Weiss?"

Ruby had her hood up, something she rarely hid. It obscured her face and made her look a lot more menacing than anyone like Ruby should look.

"What are you doing here?! My sister's missing and you just head on out!"

Ruby wasn't fazed by her outburst. "Well you didn't really want to talk to me, or anyone."

"That's not the point. And you didn't answer my question."

Ruby surprised Weiss by taking her hand. Silently she led them through the woods, the fallen leaves crunching under her simple back boots. For a couple minutes the girls didn't say anything. It wasn't until they got to the edge of the forest did Ruby drop her hand.

At the edge of a cliff stood a single tombstone. On the center was a carving of a blooming rose, and above it was an inscription.

_Summer Rose, thus kindly I scatter. . ._

"Oh, Ruby."

She knelt in front of the tombstone, silent. Weiss didn't know if she should stay or leave, so she just stood there awkwardly off to the side. An autumn wind whispered through the trees. The crumbling leaves were lifted up like ghosts, swirling around in a whirlpool of sorts, before descending back to earth. In her kingdom of the north it would have been snowing by now. Yet Weiss shivered anyway.

Ruby's cape whipped in the wind like a flag of some unknown land. Weiss remembered a picture Yang once showed them of their mother. She wore a white cape just like Ruby did. She looked a lot like Ruby, actually.

Finally, after what seemed like forever but had only been a few minutes, Ruby got up. She took Weiss' hand and led her down the hill again. Neither girl said anything. But they didn't really need to.

* * *

"Not dead? Sapphire, he was killed by a-" Sapphire cut Violet off.

"No he wasn't," she said breathlessly, desperately. "That's the official story."

"The official story?" Karai raised an eyebrow.

Sapphire sat down at the edge of the guest room bed. She twisted her skirt in her hands like rags. Her eyes met each teammate one by one, looking for something-understanding, compassion, or at least no hostility.

"Robin's ship was supposedly attacked by a serpent Grimm. But a week after we were notified of the attack, a crew member on the ship contacted me. seemed terrified, he only agreed to meet me in secret. 'So the Huntsmen didn't find out,' he said."

Violet frowned at the thought that a law abiding citizen would fear the Huntsmen, but let her continue.

"So we met by the docks one night. He told me that the ship wasn't attacked by Grimm. It was really attacked by a space craft of some kind. He said aliens took my brother, but it was hushed up. Some sort of conspiracy involving a plot to take over Vale. And the way he described them, the aliens sounded just like the Kraang." Sapphire gripped her skirt even harder. "My brother, my brother was taken. And I had to find him."

"That's why you wanted to investigate this," Karai said.

Sapphire put her hand over her heart. "If he were dead, I would feel it. I knew he was still out there somewhere, and I knew I couldn't find him as a dancer in the Mystral Blossoms."

"You joined Beacon in order to find him," Mona Lisa said.

Sapphire nodded. "Robin's my brother, my twin. My best friend."

Mona Lisa glared at her. "Dude, why didn't you tell us? We're teammates."

Violet frowned. "And what were you planning to do afterwards?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean once you found your brother. Were you going to just quit school and go back to dancing? Give up your vow?"

"We're students, we didn't make a vow yet," Karai pointed out.

"That's not the point!" Violet walked right up to Sapphire and got all up in her face. "We're supposed to be dedicated to doing this 100 percent, not just until it stops being convenient."

"I'm not quitting, Violet. I want to be a Huntress."

"It's a better reason than mine," Mona Lisa said, leaning against the wall, hands in her pockets. The girls looked at her.

"All my life people looked down on me for being a Fanus. Most people were subtle about it, but some outright said to my face that I'm an animal that needs to 'know her place.' Huntresses are the some of the most revered people in the world. I wanted to be revered. I wanted to go back home after graduation and shove it in everyone's face. And if anyone messed with me or my family, I'd have the power to fight back."

"Fight back? You became a Huntress for revenge? To rub it in? Are you freaking kidding me?!" Violet pointed her finger right in Mona Lisa's face. "This isn't a contest."

Mona Lisa brushed her hand away. "Back off, you don't have any idea what my life was like. Did you know someone tried to burn my uncle's farm because they wanted to retaliate against the White Fang?"

"You don't know what my life was like, either."

Mona Lisa laughed sarcastically. "Oh, boo hoo I don't know who my father is. You've been served your whole future on a silver platter. You only became leader because your mother-"

_SLAP._

Violet stared at her hand in horror. Mona Lisa balled up her hands into fists. Before either girl could say or do anything however, Karai stepped in between them.

"In case anyone has forgotten, we are stranded on an alien planet. So let's just put all of this on hold. We are going to find Sapphire's brother, rescue him, and then when we get back to school we can all go at it like dogs. Okay?"

"And what about you," Sapphire asked.

"And what about me?"

She put a hand on Karai's shoulder and turned her around to face her. "What's your real reason for being a Huntress? Why are you so secretive about your past? What really happened with the smoke in the music room?"

Karai stepped back and gave Sapphire a look that could freeze Hell, but her teammate didn't even flinch.

"None of your damn business."

* * *

"I looked over your report." Professor Ozpin leaned back in his chair, hands folded, the report in question on his desk. Dr. Oobleck stood at attention.

"The EPF has the situation contained for the time being, however they still cannot take back the city. And even if they could, most of the city has already been captured and mutated."

"Hopefully the Dust will help."

"I am concerned about the EPF's attitude towards mutants, though. It seems like the start of another Menagerie."

"Well in the end their world is their business. However if the situation is truly dire I will have you step in." Professor Ozpin flipped through the report. "You say you were unable to apprehend this Shredder?"

"The city was full of Kraang. It would be impossible to get to him. Professor Tang was not happy."

"And what have you heard about these ninjas, in your unbiased opinion?"

"Well from what I gathered Shredder is trying to eliminate a rival clan as well as take over the criminal underworld of the city. He is currently in alliance with the Kraang, although that may change. He is an imposing figure to be sure, but he appears to be too obsessive and short sighted to pose a real threat to the city, let alone the world. He also, surprisingly enough, seems to have no prejudice when it comes to mutants. Many serve him."

"Interesting. And the rival clan?"

"I didn't see them. I have no idea if they pose a threat."

"Thank you. That will be all."

Dr. Oobleck hesitated at the door. "Has Qrow sent you anything?"

"Not yet."


	22. Another point of view

Mona Lisa was in the library, looking out the window at the strange, alien world. The sunset made the red trees look orange. The forest looked like it was on fire. Professor Honeycutt said that there were no Grimm on this planet, but she still felt uneasy being in the woods. The other girls were in other parts of the house, avoiding each other. The professor had sensed the tension but wisely decided not to ask.

"Mona Lisa?"

Violet stepped out from behind a bookshelf hesitantly. When Mona Lisa didn't turn around, Violet joined her at the window.

"I apologize for my rash reaction. As leader I take full responsibility for this. . . argument."

Mona Lisa ignored her. Her royal highness had to learn she couldn't professionalize her way out of everything. She didn't want to start another screaming match, especially in a library. So she kept her eyes on the window.

Violet let out a frustrated sigh. She slumped against the wall dejectedly. "Before my mom taught at Beacon, she was always risking her life protecting the kingdom. Every time she left on a mission there was no guarantee she was coming back." Violet glanced at Mona Lisa, who was looking at her now. "When I was 8 she was hurt really bad. She was in a coma for a week and the doctors didn't know if she would make it."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. About what you went through growing up."

"Well then we're even, because I never thought that much about what you face as a Fanus."

"It's okay."

"Look, all I'm trying to say is that being a Huntress is serious work. So please take it seriously. I know you think I got to where I am because nepotism-"

Mona Lisa held up her hands defensively. "Hey wait, I didn't say that. I was going to say that your mom taught you. You had every resource available, you're rich. But I never thought you got to attend Beacon or be leader because your mom pulled strings."

"Well some people do."

"Well they're idiots. You earned your position, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Violet stood up straight. "And anyone who thinks you're an animal is an idiot. I never thought that. None of us do."

"I know."

Violet held out her hand. "Teammates?"

Mona Lisa grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug, ruffling her hair much to her teammate's annoyance.

"Friends."

* * *

"Hey Karai?"

And here she thought no one would look for her on the roof. Karai had laid down, looking up the weird constellations, hiding from everyone. Apparently she wasn't as great a kunoichi as she used to be.

"What is it?"

Sapphire lay down next to her, either unaware or unconcerned about the tone in her voice.

"I wanted to apologize if I made you uncomfortable earlier."

"Don't worry about it."

"It's just that you're so closed off all the time."

Karai snorted. "You were keeping secrets too."

"Yeah, I know. I guess I just wanted for you guys to take me seriously. It's not like Violet thinks."

She glanced sideways, studying her teammate. "What do you mean?"

"I want to find my brother, but I want to be a Huntress for its own sake. Helping people. Doing something useful. Feeling powerful."

"You don't like dancing?"

"I love dancing, but it was a choice my mom made for me. Being a Huntress is a choice I made. It's something no one I knew did. It's intense, and powerful. It's . . . liberating."

"Yeah, I get that." And she did. On Earth, whether in Tokyo, New York, Hong Kong or London, Karai knew the only reason she could walk alone at night as a girl was because she was taught to fight from three years old.

"And I didn't want you guys to think I'm just some ditzy blonde. Especially you."

Karai sat up. "Me?"

Sapphire laughed at her surprised expression. "You have, like, this air of confidence and mystery about you. Like you've been in lots of fights and stuff. And you're so good you don't even need Dust to fight. I wish I was that good."

"Sometimes I don't think I'm good enough."

"You beat Pyrrha-"

'No, I mean I don't think I'm a good person." This whole conversation was making her feel antsy. Karai started pacing the roof. "Look, I know I have secrets I should tell you, but not yet. For right now just know I'm not as great as you think."

"When we were all arguing earlier, you were the one who said we needed to rescue my brother." Sapphire wrapped her arms around Karai's neck. "That means a lot to me." Karai awkwardly hugged her teammate back.

"You're a good person. I know it."

"And you're a lot stronger than you think."

* * *

"I have good news and bad news."

Professor Honeycutt and Team VKSM were sitting in the kitchen the next morning. The professor had given up trying to cook at this point and Sapphire had made pancakes out of something resembling flour. He was happy the girls had resolved whatever they had argued about last night.

"Did you talk to the general," Sapphire asked.

"Yes, but he refused to release Alopex unless I, well never mind. Alopex is under lock and key."

"What's the good news," Violet asked.

"The general carries a master key card, which among other things has the cell number and lock override code for every prisoner on this planet."

"So all we need to do is swipe it from him and break Robin out." Karai grinned. She served herself another pancake. To the others it almost looked like she enjoyed the thought of theft and a prison break a little too much.

"Well, yes. Usually I don't approve of this kind of activity, but desperate times. And it just so happens I overheard an aide talking to him while I was on hold. I know where he will be tonight."

Sapphire leaned in eagerly. "Where?"

"The Galaxy club."


	23. Seduction

_The sounds of the Tokyo streets could not penetrate the walls of the geisha house basement. If one ignored the boombox in the corner, it might as well have been another time entirely._

_"Hurry up, child," a woman in her early forties said. She was sitting in a chair by the door, legs crossed elegantly and hands folded in her lap. Despite her proper demeanor, there was a bit of a smirk on her face._

_Across the room, a 13 year old Karai cursed from behind a changing screen. Sayuri-san, an acquaintance of her father, had been tasked with teaching her "feminine skills." But a girl that was raised surrounded by men, and raised to kick the asses of said men, was not very feminine by nature._

_Karai finally emerged from behind the screen, wearing a tight-fitted quipo with a slit at the knee._

" _I'm not even Chinese," she protested._

" _Your mother was Chinese, wasn't she? Besides, most Westerners won't know the difference, or care. We'll try other dresses later, but for now this will serve its purpose." Sayuri-san stood up and circled the young girl. She took a strand of her chin length hair and ran it between her fingers. "Why don't you grow your hair out?"_

" _Because it gets in the way." Karai pulled her hair away from her. "And I don't see why I have to learn how to seduce perverts. It's so sexist. Male ninjas don't need to rely on sex appeal."_

" _First of all, don't lecture me about sexism. Many men in your father's position would have remarried a young, fertile bimbo in a desperate attempt to produce a male heir. But Oroku-san has made_ you _his heir." Yuri-san went over to a box near her chair and pulled out a pair of high heels. She handed them to Karai, who grudgingly slipped them on._

" _Any ninja needs to know the art of disguise, of stealth. That is part of seduction. And a girl especially needs to use every advantage she has. Your opponents will be physically stronger than you. And if can't rely on strength, use your beauty. You wit." Yuri-san sat back down in her chair. "Walk towards me."_

_Karai stumbled in her new shoes. She could barely make it across the room without tripping. Sayuri-san laughed._

" _Let me show you."_

Violet was pacing the length of the alleyway. She, Mona Lisa and Sapphire were waiting behind the club in plain, grey Federation disguises.

"Oh come on," Sapphire said. "I think it's a good plan."

"That's because you thought of it," Violet snapped. "This is a stupid idea that doesn't work on TV, let alone real life."

"Chill Vi, if she's in trouble she'll just call." Mona Lisa was standing next to the back entrance, a bored expression on her face. Underage girls sneaking into a club and not drinking? Seemed like a crime.

"Right, because she's so good at calling for backup."

Suddenly the door slammed open, and any other protest Violet had flew from her mind. Karai was wearing an outfit she "borrowed" from a dressing room. A semi-sheer red pants that flared at the bottom, and a matching top that was really more of a bra. A skimpy bra. Some gold and ruby jewelry, a red mask and a dash of lipstick completed the look.

"We're in luck. One of the singers got sick, so I told the guy backstage I was a sub." She grinned, one hand on her hip. "The general is sitting at a table near the back. Swiping his tablet will be easy."

She turned around and headed back into the club. As the others followed her, Violet whispered into Sapphire's ear. "This the best plan you will ever come up with. Ever."

The Galaxy club was dimly lit, save for the strings of twinkling lights hanging from the walls. The booths and tables and windows were all covered in midnight blue cloths. The general, a middle aged red-headed man who did not look relaxed despite the amount of booze at his table, sat in a special VIP area in the back. Violet and Sapphire took seats at an empty table nearby. Mona Lisa was hiding on a scaffold in the back, scroll on to ready in case there was trouble.

"Ladies, gentlemen and anyone in between," an unseen announcer said, "please welcome our next singer. From a far off land, the beautiful Anastasia."

The people clapped politely. No one had heard anything about this performer, let alone anything to get excited about. The curtains opened and Karai took center stage. One hand rested on her hip while the other was raised high. A red veil she found somewhere was hanging off her shoulders. Someone rang a soft bell over the loud speakers. Fast paced music began to play. A few patrons began clapping along in time.

"Merrily we sailed along

Though the waves were plenty strong

Down the twisting river Rhine

Following a song."

Karai descended the steps, swishing her hips in time to the clapping. She stopped in front of a table with two young, gaping men.

"Legend's faded storyline

Tried to warn us all." She leaned over the table, her top stretching tight against her chest, and brushed a hair out of one guy's face. Neither one so much as breathed.

"Oh, they call her 'Loreley'

Careful or you'll fall." She moved on to another table. Karai brushed her hand lightly over one gentleman's shoulder as she walked by. She looked like she didn't even notice, but the man in question almost fell out of his chair.

"Oh, the stories we were told

Quite a vision to behold

Mysteries of the seas

In her eyes of gold.

Laying on the silver stone

Such a lonely sight

Barnacles become a throne

My poor Loreley."

If the people's eyes were any wider, they would have fallen out by this point. Karai smirked and moved on to the aisle at the center of the room. She put everything she had into each note, each movement, willing everyone to look at her and not her teammates. Spinning her veil around like a ribbon dancer, swishing her hips like a belly dancer, the clapping grew louder and louder.

"And the winds would cry

And many men would die

And the all waves would bow down

To the Loreley.

And the winds would cry

And many men would die

And the all waves would bow down

To the Loreley."

"Where did she learn to do this," Mona Lisa asked into her scroll. "What do they teach people in those orphanages?"

"She'll us when she's ready," Sapphire said.

Violet saw that two waiters had stopped serving. They were just standing there watching Karai work her way between the tables. Another waiter wasn't looking where he was going and walked directly into a table. Empty glasses crashed to the floor, but only a couple people even seemed to notice. She herself was distracted to be sure. But the rest of the club seemed outright hypnotized.

Karai had made her way to the back at this point and stood directly behind the general, who looked a lot more relaxed by now. She wrapped her veil around him like a rope, grinning wickedly. He looked dazed as she bent down to sing in his ear.

"Oh, the song of Loreley

Charms the moon right from the sky

She will get inside your mind

Lovely Loreley."

Sliding her hand down the back of his chair, Karai slipped the key card out of the general's pocket. She pulled her veil away and held it in both hands, hiding the disk. Then she sauntered over to her teammates.

"When she cries: 'Be with me

Until the end of time'"

She put one hand on Violet's shoulder and leaned in front of her, shielding her actions from the audience. Karai's other hand slipped the disk under hers and held it there for a second.

"You know you will never be

With your Loreley."

Karai took her hand away and with a single motion pulled apart Violet's bun. Her bright red curls cascaded over her shoulders and all the way down her back. Violet grabbed her hair and glared at her, but Karai had already made her way back to the middle of the room.

"And the winds would cry

And many men would die

And the all waves would bow down

To the Loreley."

Karai slowly ascended the steps to the stage. She twirled around and struck the same pose from the beginning. By now the clapping had almost drowned out her singing.

"And the winds would cry

And many men would die

And the all waves would bow down

To the Loreley.

And the winds would cry

And many men would die

And the all waves would bow down

To. The. Looor-eh- liiiy."

"Give it up for Anastasia!" Karai gave the audience a deep bow as the curtains closed. Everyone jumped up to give a standing ovation.

Violet and Sapphire got up from their seats and snuck out the back door before the cheering stopped. After fending off an eager club owner and requests for encores, saying she was tired, Karai met Mona Lisa in a closet with a change of clothes. A couple minutes later, no one paid any attention to a couple of merchants with hooded cloaks exiting the building. All they could talk about was the mysterious masked singer. The general didn't even notice his key card was missing for several hours.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This song is called "Loreley" by Blackmore's Night.


	24. Never forget a face

Alopex laid down on his bunk, his hands behind his head. His cell was made of dark blue metal so shiny he could see his face in it. The thick door had an electric lock only the guards could open with their keycards. He was already figuring out how to pocket one.

This was the third time in as many years that he had been arrested for stealing something. He could only imagine what Yomoboto-san or Usagi would say if they knew.

The jail itself wasn't that bad, though. The inmates pretty much ignored him and the guards were more apathetic than cruel. He told the officials he was an orphan street rat who had lived on the streets since he was 10. He didn't know if they bought that, but Alopex was fairly certain they didn't think he was working for the Tricaraton republic.

The cell door clicked. Alopex sat up and shielded his eyes as a military officer stood at attention.

"Get up kid. You're being bailed out."

Alopex followed the guard down the corridor. The only light came from the blinking green bulbs overhead. It was quiet. The rest of the cell block was probably asleep by now, or at least pretending to be.

The man led him through several halls until he finally stopped at a door. It opened automatically.

"Don't let me catch you back here, kid." He pushed him inside and left. The door slammed behind him.

He was inside the loading area where they picked up food and supplies. It was about the size of a sports field, dark and grimy and old. The door on the ceiling was open, and the alien moon cast shadows over the crates and cargo ships.

A woman stood facing away from him. Her black hair curled down her back, almost reaching the hem of her red dress. The sleeves had yellow designs that almost glowed in the dark.

It had been five years, but Alopex still remembered.

He ran to the door, but a blast of heat hit him in the back and he collapsed in the floor. The woman walked over to him slowly, the sound of her shoes echoing through the room.

"Hello again, Robin."

* * *

The military officer walked back to his post guarding the door to the cell block. He didn't hear anything unusual. It was only when he got back did he see the door to the corridor was wide open.

He ran into the block, looking for signs of a prison break. Instead all he got was a hit to the head by a metal stick. The officer fell to the floor and was greeted by a pretty blonde girl in a frilly blue dress. Holding a bow and arrow.

"Where is prisoner 3451?" She calmly aimed the arrow at him. He tried to reach into his pocket for his phone, but a girl in black came into his view, holding out the phone tauntingly.

"Where is he," she asked again, firing the arrow a couple feet from his head and exploded in flames. A couple embers landed in his hair and scorched his skin.

"Sapphire," another girl said from behind him, "we can't-"

"Tell me where my brother is _now."_

"A woman bailed him out."

"Who?"

"I didn't get her name. She had long black hair and yellow eyes."

The girl in black frowned. "Was she wearing a red dress by any chance?"

"Yeah."

"It sounds like the woman from the docks."

"Where are they now," the blonde girl asked.

"The loading docks, preparing her airship."

"Let's go." She sprinted out of the room, arrow still drawn.

"Hey," a forth girl called. "What do we do with him?"

"I got it." The girl in black dropped his phone on the ground. "We already killed the cameras, so you can just tell people you were attacked by beefy guys instead of teenage girls." She kicked him swiftly on the head. "Good night."

The last thing he thought, before everything went black, was that he really hated kids.

* * *

Alopex had been a fox boy for five years, but he had never been caged before. If only he could get to his sword. It sat on a one of several crates a few feet away. The airship he was in looked like something from Vale. It couldn't last in deep space, so they were probably headed somewhere else on the planet. Maybe he could contact Professor Honeycutt.

The black haired woman was at the controls, talking into a headset. There was also a boy a couple years older than him. He had grey hair and smug expression. Alopex couldn't see any sort of weapon on him, but he got the sense that the guy was far more threatening than he looked.

"We'll be taking off shortly," the woman said into a headset. "From there we'll be in Vale in a day."

"What do you want with me anyway? Why bring me home when you could just kill me?"

"We think you could be of use to us," the boy said. "Although personally I can't see how."

"Laugh while you can," Alopex snarled. "Pretty soon you'll be the one in a cage." The boy smirked.

"So what are you planning to do anyway? Take over Vale? Start another war?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

The grey haired boy lost his smug expression when the whole airship titled sideways and he slammed face first into a wall. Sparks suddenly shot up from the controls. Something was hitting against the ship, leaving dents in the metal. The woman threw down the headset and started preparing to take off.

"What do you want to do?"

"Take care of him. We can't leave any trace."

"No problem."

The boy opened up a crate. He pulled out a shotgun loaded with various types of Dust. Aiming it at Alopex's headed, he grinned.

"I guess you won't be of use after all."

As he was about to pull the trigger, suddenly a girl teleported in the middle of the ship. Pole vaulting with her metal bo staff, she kicked the grey haired boy right in the face. He fell to the floor in a heap. The girl turned to the woman, poised to attack.

"Get. Away. From my. Brother."

" _Sapphire?"_

She had gotten taller, that's what he noticed first. He knew she had grown in the last five years, just like him, but it was still a shock to see his sister look so old. The second thing he noticed was that she was still wearing her hat.

The woman smiled, almost amused. She leisurely walked over to the twins, every step punctuated by her high heels.

"I should have just killed you years ago." She summoned fire from the Dust on her sleeves. Orange runes encircled her. But before she could attack a white blast of energy from behind threw her against the bars of the cage.

"Hey princess, kill this." A girl welding a mace tackled the woman to the ground and began pounding her. She blasted the mace girl off of her, watching with satisfaction as she hit the wall with a thump. Two other girls came in through the broken window and dove right into the fight. Alopex couldn't see them very well, the only coming from attacks.

Sapphire teleported behind the cage and threw her arms around him. Alopex hugged her automatically, childhood instincts long forgotten now rushed back to the surface.

"Are you okay? Are you injured?" She pulled back, inspecting him for any damage.

"How the Hell did you find me?"

Sapphire teleported them both out of the airship.

"I'm a Huntress now."

The airship roared to life. The girl with the mace had managed to break a hole in the wall. She and another girl carrying a gun jumped out. With an artist's eye Alopex noticed the way the lizard tail curled against the first girl's leg, how she ran her hands through her ponytail excitedly. The other girl was standing at attention almost like a soldier, but her eyes darted to the ship, the room, everywhere, with a tense expression. This was probably one of her first missions.

A blast of fire spewed out, and the third girl jumped out right as the ship took off. Despite the damage, the ship shot up through the opening in the ceiling and took off into the night.

"What were you doing in there," the girl with the gun said. "I told you 'we found Robin, let's go.'"

The third girl was partially obscured by the shadow of a shipping crate. "I was getting something."

"What?"

The girl with the sword stepped out into the light.

"Here's your sword," she said, holding his weapon out. He looked up at her. Without her makeup, she looked softer, less dangerous. But other than that Leonardo described her well, right down to the way she smiled.

"My name's Karai."


	25. Extra credit

Karai stomped into her dorm room and slammed the door shut behind her. Then, demonstrating the self-control she was known for, she threw her book bag against the wall with all her might. It hit the wall with a loud thud, narrowly missing a framed picture on Sapphire's desk, and all her books and papers spilled out on the floor.

"Well hello sunshine," Mona Lisa said, looking up from her comic. Violet was sitting at her desk, taking advantage of the fading daylight to mend a tear in her school uniform.

Karai ignored her. She sat down at her desk and put her head in her hands. Although she couldn't see it, she knew that Mona Lisa and Violet were exchanging looks.

"What's wrong Karai?" When she didn't answer, Violet started picking up papers off the floor. Shifting through the mess, she came across the trouble.

"A C+?"

Mona Lisa came over and grabbed the history test from Violet. "Well, it could be worse."

"Could be worse?" Karai turned around and gave Mona Lisa one of her death looks. "I might get a C in the class."

"Well, we still have the final in a few weeks," Violet said. "You just need to study." She picked up the history textbook off the floor. "Instead of throwing a hissy fit."

"I _have_ been studying! And even if I do great on the exam, I'll still have a B, and Weiss will still have a higher GPA than me."

"It's not a contest, Karai."

"Spoken like an only child." Mona Lisa plopped down on her partner's bed. "Just look on the bright side, okay? Professor Ozpin bought our stupid Mafia story and Sapphire's brother is safe at home at last."

"He's not at home," Karai pointed out. "He's living in some secret science-y place somewhere."

"For his own protection. Between his mutation and the people that are after him, it's best he remain hidden." Violet stood next to Karai's desk and put a hand on her shoulder. "He's safe now, and that's something we can be proud of."

"And look how happy Sapphire is."

Sometimes Karai couldn't believe how naïve her teammates were. They put Leo to shame. "You don't think they'll do something to him? Like experiment on him or dissect him?"

"Mutant or not, Robin would be attacked by Grimm if he ventured outside the kingdom," Violet said. "According to the courts, he's legally a person and therefore entitled to certain rights."

"Besides, even if they wanted to do something, his family would know about it."

"Legally a person," Karai muttered. Looking up at the ceiling, she thought for a moment. "That's from the treaty of Forever Falls, right?"

Cue the awkward pause.

"Um, actually," Mona Lisa said at last, "that's from the Cross Continental Treaty. That ended the Great War."

"The Forever Falls Treaty was about the overthrow of the monarchy," Violet added, in an almost pitying tone, like it was something everyone knew.

Karai hit her head against her desk. At this rate she might as well just steal the answers. And even then with her luck she might still fail.

* * *

The Vale Science and Research Center, or the Center as most people called it, had a large courtyard deep in the restricted access section. A black wicker table and a few chairs were arranged in the center, near an old willow tree. Alopex was leaning against the tree, as though trying to hide behind its branches. Sapphire, however, was practically bouncing.

"I can't believe this is happening," she squealed for the fifth time. "Our family is finally back together."

"Yeah." Alopex slumped lower against the tree and tugged at the fur on his check. He had thought about this day since the day he was mutated. And after all this time, the thought still made him want to throw up. Sapphire took his hands and half guided, half dragged him into the sunlight.

"They're Mom and Dad, Robin. They love you. You know they do."

"They haven't seen me in five years."

"Well, it's not like you've changed much since then." Alopex had to laugh at that one.

"I'm serious. You are still the same stupid boy who stole my curling iron to sword fight with his friends."

"Hey I won that fight, thank you very much."

"And the time you took my hair brush-"

"I was 9!"

If an employee had walked by, they would have heard the twins had almost the exact same laugh. Sapphire hugged her brother for what felt like the hundredth time that week. Alopex couldn't begin to say how grateful he was for his sister. Giving up a career as a dancer, and actually getting into Beacon, just to find him, was as heartwarming as it was impressive. Nothing, not his mutation, his alien upbringing or even his crippling fear of his own parents fazed her.

"Ahem?" Dr. Blanco, an elderly scientist assigned to his case, stood in the doorway of the courtyard. He smiled fondly at the twins.

"Robin, there's some people here to see you."

He stepped back, allowing North and Amethyst Star to pass through.

His parents had gotten older, too. His father's black hair was streaked with grey, and his mother's face was more lined than a 42 year old's face should have been. But then again, most 42 year old women didn't think they had lost a child for the past 5 years. Both his parents' eyes were shining with tears. Alopex tried to blink back his own.

Mom stepped forward first, hesitantly, searching in this fox boy's eyes for some trace of the little boy she lost long ago.

Sapphire nudged him forward gently. Alopex tried to say something reassuring, or confident, or anything really. But all that came out, in a timid, choked up voice, was

"Mom?"

In seconds he was crying into his mother's arms like he was a toddler. Sapphire came up behind him and leaned her head on his shoulder. Then their dad, who was crying by this point, wrapped his arms around his family like he was never letting go. And when he did let go, he put his hands on Alopex's shoulders and looked him in his furry, mutant face.

"Welcome home, son."

* * *

"Ah Ms. Tang, thank you for coming in. This will only take a minute, then you can go to lunch." Dr. Oobleck looked up from his desk, which was half covered in an enormous and dusty tome. Karai quickly shut the door and perched herself at the edge of her seat. Her hands clasped in her lap and her legs crossed at the ankles, she tried to make herself look as proper and Weiss or Violet. She couldn't think of anything she did that deserved being called into her professor's office. Between school and searching for Kraang, she actually didn't have much time to do anything fun.

Dr. Oobleck marked his page with a scrap of paper and gently closed the yellowed pages. The book was shelved carefully, as though it would crumble to pieces any moment. It fit right in with the rest of the office, a small grey room overtaken by an old coffee stained desk. A bookshelf lined the back wall, and the only decoration was a picture of Dr. Oobleck's wife and children.

"What book is that," she asked, trying to make small talk.

"A chronicle of the foundation of Vale." Dr. Oobleck was speaking in normal speed at least. She should be grateful for that.

"Now Karai, let's cut to the chase shall we? You're not in trouble." Karai relaxed her shoulders and leaned back in her seat. "It's about your grade. I know very well why you feel at a loss when it comes to Remnant history, so especially for you I've decided to offer some extra credit."

"Extra credit?" Karai raised an eyebrow. Was this some sort of trick? "Like a paper?"

"Yes, a very specific paper." Dr. Oobleck took out another book from his shelf. He handed it to her.

_Legends of the Migration_

"As I'm sure you are aware, thousands of years ago the people of Remnant were able to create an interdimensional portal using newly discovered Dust. They thought that if humanity could not survive here, perhaps they could survive elsewhere. It was only open for a short time, and only a few thousand people came through. Those would be your father's ancestors. They settled every corner of your world, and made it what it is today."

Karai refrained from snorting. "From what I have seen, what it is today isn't something to be proud of."

"That's a topic for another paper. Now, only a few people in Remnant today know about Earth and the migration. But the story has survived through legends and myths. Why even stories like the Lost Princess might be based on the idea that in going to Earth we were going to reclaim what has been lost."

Karai flipped through the pages. It seemed like a regular story book, except that each story had commentary from a historian at the end about "social function." Seemed pretty straight-forward. "So the topic of my paper is legends about the migration?"

"No. You are going to write a 1200 word page paper on the history of three different tales, but they can be from this book or not."

"Could they be from a story book, like Roses and Thorns?"

"Yes, but you'll need to source at least three scholarly sources. I want to know the origin, several key elements across several variations, and why they might be popular today. Folklore is a unique form of history, and it's something our two worlds share." Dr. Oobleck paused to let Karai pullout a notebook and write everything down.

"Yeah, I've noticed some similarities between our fairytales and yours when I read my script."

"Excellent. The paper will be due to my office before the final exam, and if you come at the right time perhaps we can discuss such similarities."

"Okay, I will." Karai slipped the book in her bag. "Dr. Oobleck?"

"Yes?"

"Why didn't everyone go through the portal?"

"Because a few Grimm had gotten through. It wouldn't do anyone any good if we had made a second Remnant. That's why travel between here and Earth is so limited." Dr. Oobleck took his book back off the shelf and opened to the marked page.

"Oh. Dr. Oobleck?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks. For not just giving me an A because you felt sorry for me or something."

Dr. Oobleck looked up at her sharply. "My dear, you are strong and bright and passionate. While you had a difficult start, I have no doubt that by the time you graduate you will be one of the best Huntresses of your generation. That's nothing to pity."

Karai opened her mouth, then closed it again. Instead she bowed deeply and sincerely.

"Thank you, sir."

* * *

Blake stared at Yang. She didn't say anything, just stared silently for almost a minute.

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"A sleepover?"

"The four of us already share a room," Weiss pointed out. "Isn't that basically the same thing?"

"No, that's just living in the same room. We haven't done any sleepover things."

"Such as?"

Ruby counted off on her fingers. "Ghost stories, truth or dare, make overs, talking about boys, braiding hair-"

"You'd let someone else braid your hair?" Weiss looked at Yang incredulously.

"Okay, maybe not braiding, but it'd still be fun." Yang jumped down from her bed. "Plus it wouldn't be just us. There'd be Pyrrha and Nora, your sister's team, maybe some other people. Come on, please?"

Weiss sighed. She looked over at Blake, who simple shrugged. Neither of them really had any experience with such things.

"Alright. We'll have a sleepover."


	26. Prophecy

Beacon Library opened at 9 on Saturdays. Not many students took advantage of this, however, preferring to sleep in. But while Karai liked her bed as much as the next person, she also appreciated the quiet, especially when she was researching. The folktale and myth section was on the third floor. She was the only one there. It was dark as she opened the doors, but as she walked down the center aisle the motion activated lights flickered on one by one, as though the room was haunted by ever helpful ghosts.

Karai took a couple minutes to figure out the foreign organizational structure. Instead of just call numbers or authors' names, the system also used symbols to organize books into sections. The book she was looking for had some sort of dragon on it. After another couple minutes strolling through the stacks, she found the book in the very back of the shelves. The spine looked like it was ready to snap if touched. Karai didn't think it had been checked out in a long time.

_Lighting and Thunder: An Analysis of Folktales by Aarne Thompson_

Lying down on a couch near the window, she began to read.

* * *

Kurtzman was at his desk sorting through some papers as the Mighty Mutanimals walked in. The office had regained the same level of clutter and conspiracy boards as it had from before the invasion. Rockwell could see some coffee stained notes for an article about the invasion teetering at the edge of the table.

"Gentlemen, I would like to start off by saying thank you on behalf of all New York. Without you New York and the rest of the world would be under the control of the Kraang."

"Thanks," said Slash. "So what's the bad news?"

Rockwell tapped the picture of a golden one eyed triangle taped to the wall. "Illuminati?"

"Oh no, Bill's all the way on the other side of the country right now."

"Bill?" Pigeon Pete asked.

"Never mind." Kurtzman pulled out some yellowed documents from the pile. "Right now I called you in here to talk about another great threat to Earth. Maybe even bigger than the Kraang."

"Bigger than the Kraang?" Leatherhead narrowed his eyes. "How?"

"Have any of you ever heard of the ancient astronaut theory?"

Rockwell scoffed. "The idea that aliens came thousands of years ago and made Stonehenge? That's what's so important?"

"It's more than a theory." Kurtzman held up an illustration of people in white robes standing on a hill above a crowd. They held glowing staffs in their hands." Thousands of years ago humans from another world came to Earth. All over the world there are ancient stories of people coming from another world, sometimes with wings or tails, sometimes with supernatural powers, to interfere with the lives of mortals. Humans of Earth may even be descended from them."

"Well that was thousands of years ago," Slash said. "Why does it matter now?"

"Because from the information I gathered, these non-Earth humans are coming back. And this time, they want to stay."

* * *

_When kingdoms are at peace_

_Yet have no kings_

_And Creatures live with Man_

_Yet strife still stings_

_A warrior queen with mirrored eyes_

_Renowned for skill and compassion_

_Will lead her followers far and wide_

_Against misguided factions_

_She will guide the people out of darkness into the light_

_And reclaim their rightful land_

_None shall fear the Grimm_

_Victory will be at hand_

Karai closed the book carefully. She had to hand it to the people of Remnant. They really know how to tell a story. So far she read about a woman feeding a dead person's liver to her abusive husband-who is subsequently disemboweled by the ghost, a man who doesn't cut his hair or bathe for seven years and somehow gets a wife anyway, and a princess who is almost forced to marry her own father. Her favorite was about a boy who is absolutely unafraid of anything and yet sees it as a bad thing. And then there were these prophecies. Half of them predicted the end of human civilization and the other predicted the end of Grimm.

She glanced at her scroll. It was almost noon now. Karai quickly gathered her things and sprinted to the stairwell. She was supposed to meet up with her team at the front of the school in five minutes.

They were going to see Robin.

* * *

"So this so called queen is trying to take over the world?" Rockwell squinted at the photo of a woman supposedly conjuring fire in her hand.

"For now I believe her plans are in the early stages. We have time. For now you should get information before planning the next move."

"What about the Turtles? Should we tell them?" Pigeon Pete hovered over Rockwell's shoulder, flapping his wings anxiously.

"We can handle this," Slash said. He took the picture and studied it for a second. "Whoever these human aliens are, they better watch themselves."


	27. Trip to the foxhole

Alopex was hunched over his desk, finishing up his drawing. He barely noticed the knock at his door until it became a banging.

"Coming." He folded the paper and stuffed it in his pocket. After a quick glance in the mirror, he headed for the courtyard.

His sister and her teammates were already sitting at the table. Sapphire jumped up the second she saw him. She hugged him so hard he had a little trouble breathing. It was still a bit weird seeing his sister again after five years, but by now it felt like they had never been apart.

Joining them at the table, he tried to ignore Violet's staring. Alopex knew better than anyone that his appearance took some getting used to. So far though, most people had gotten over their shock surprisingly quickly. Except Karai, that is. She looked so undisturbed that he wondered if anyone noticed. Alopex drew his gaze away, trying not to stare himself.

After what he heard from the turtles and April about this beautiful, evil, tragic ninja, he hadn't expected Karai to be so normal.

"So," his sister began loudly, glancing at the door. "We wanted to see how you were settling in."

"Oh, yeah, great." He pointed to the door. "Dr. Blanco has been really awesome. The scientists here found some of the same green ooze that changed me, and they're already starting to look for a cure."

"Have they tested anything on you," Karai asked. "Done anything to you?"

"Uh, they took some blood and fur samples, x rays and stuff. They can't do actual experiments like they would on animals after all." He noticed Violet and Mona Lisa give her looks or some reason.

"Okay now that the pleasantries are out of the way, what do you know about the Kraang? Karai checked for bugs, they can't hear us." Mona Lisa leaned forward, propping herself up by her elbows. Violet glared at her for being so brash, but Alopex appreciated her bluntness.

"Honestly, I already told you guys everything on the ship. They're helping some people take over the kingdom."

"Do you know anything about who these people are," Violet asked.

"No. I didn't even know the White Fang were involved. I still can't believe they changed so much."

Mona Lisa nodded. "Me neither."

"Did you ever hear anything about a queen?" Karai watched him try to remember with an intensity that reminded him of Raphael. At least she wasn't threatening to hit anyone at this point.

"They might have mentioned something about a queen when they were talking about stealing Dust. I guessed it was someone's nickname. But it could be a queen from another world for all we know. I was mostly shocked by how much Dust they needed."

"Did they say why they were stealing it?"

"No. Just that Schnee is going to be pissed."

"Maybe we could ask your sister about this," Sapphire suggested.

"I don't think she would know anything about company records."

"Sister?"

Karai sighed. "My older half-sister is heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

Alopex couldn't help but pause awkwardly. "Oh."

Four mutant turtles were the long lost step brothers of the daughter of Frost Schnee? They certainly were right not to tell anyone. God knows what he'd do to them or their sensei.

* * *

"I think Robin might like you," Sapphire said. She flopped down on her bed. After visiting Robin for another hour, the girls spent the rest of the day in town. It was past dark now, and everyone was tired.

"What?"

"He was staring at you the whole visit. Oh, you two would be so cute together."

"I think you might be imagining things." Violet sat down at her desk and resumed her reading. "What time is it?"

Karai fished through her bag to find her scroll. She felt a folded up piece of brush against her hand. How did that get there? She opened it up, then quickly folded it again and stuffed it in her pocket.

"I'm going to take a shower."

"You already took one this morning," Mona Lisa said. She often complained that Karai took too many or too long showers.

"Well I went on a run." Karai grabbed her pajamas and headed to the bathroom, all while avoiding eye contact.

"Don't take too long."

Karai shut the door and locked it. For good measure she moved the bin of cleaning supplies to block the door. The shower was turned on full blast, as was the radio, to drown out any freaking out. Collapsing on the bathroom mat, Karai slowly opened the paper, lying it on the floor in front of her.

In the upper left corner, Raphael and Leo are drawn sitting together on a bench swing. Leo looks a little tired. He leans his head on his brother's shoulder. A wooden walking stick lies on the ground in front of them.

Michelangelo is sitting across from them, watching a TV. His mouth is open like he's saying something, and his hands are waving in the air. That boy-Casey Jones-is lying on the couch, half watching, half sleeping.

Lower on the page April is writing in a journal. Her face is somewhat obscured by shadow, but it looks like she had been crying earlier. Dealing with the invasion couldn't have been easy.

Donatello is at the bottom right corner, leaning against a table with mechanical odds and ends. He had a relaxed smile on his face, not like she remembered at all. Plus he looked slightly less scrawny than in real life.

But in the center of the page is Karai herself. She's sitting down against a metal wall-must be in Professor Honeycutt's spaceship-and listening to some unseen person next to her. Her lips are curved into a gentle smile.

Karai flipped the paper over.

_Before you found me, I was almost killed in a crash and aided some local knights. They told me a story of a lost princess. I respect her desire to stay lost, and won't tell a soul. But know her kingdom misses her._

Then, hastily scrawled under that:

_Same goes for your sister._

Karai crumpled up the paper into a tiny ball. She threw it on the ground, dumping her clothes on top of it. Stepping in the shower, she focused on the hot water burning her skin. There were no tears, no wishing, no hurting. It didn't matter what he said. The only knights she cared about were here.


	28. Sleepover

Karai had never been to a sleepover on Earth, so she didn't know if she could compare it with this. But from what she saw from movies, it seemed pretty similar to ones in Remnant.

"So what'll it be? Scary movie or Rom-Com?" Yang held up two DVD covers. One had a picture of a man and a woman dancing. The other featured a dark silhouette of a guy with a knife.

"Oh, I love that movie!" Sapphire pointed to the first one excitedly. Violet, Weiss and Velvet agreed. Blake and Pyhrra had no preference, and the others voted for the second one.

"Psycho II it is." Hitting the lights, Yang popped the disc in her portable TV. Everyone settled down on the floor. Violet scooted next to Karai. She tucked in her knees to her chest and drew a blanket around her.

"I hate these kinds of movies," she whispered.

"Don't worry, if a big scary boy with a kitchen knife and limp breaks in, I'll protect you."

Violet glared at her. But a few minutes into the movie, the killer jumped out from behind a shower curtain, and Karai felt her partner grab her arm for a second. The movie was basically about a guy who eats the flesh of Grimm-somehow-and goes insane, and starts to kill people and cut out their hearts. Karai noticed a similar theme in some of the folklore she read. The fear of people acting like Grimm. The actual movie was kind of lame, though. There were mutants back in New York that were creepier looking than this guy. But not everyone agreed. Near the end, a particularly gruesome scene had Violet actually shaking. Without even thinking Karai wrapped an arm around her waist. Violet hid her face in the crook of her neck.

* * *

Before painting nails, Weiss insisted on laying out paper towels over the carpet. She really didn't understand the appeal of letting an untrained, hyperactive person like Ruby or Nora give her a manicure as opposed to an actual manicurist. Pyhrra, who had also never been to a sleepover before, was already applying an obscene amount of blush on Velvet's face. According to Yang, making each other look like hookers was actually the goal.

"Look what I found." Weiss glanced up and saw Ruby holding a box with a picture of a black haired boy on it. "Temporary hair dye."

Karai didn't even look up putting eyeliner on Blake. "You'd have to have really light hair for that to show up, unless you want to use bleach."

Nora and Sapphire were already running into the bathroom. No one was stupid enough to ask Yang. Before anyone could say anything, Weiss was already shaking her head.

"No way, forget it."

"It's only temporary," Ruby said.

"No."

"But you'd look so cute." Her silver eyes grew wide with excitement. "Please?"

Weiss reluctantly let her partner drag her into the bathroom. She, Nora and Sapphire wet their hair with water from the sink while Ruby read the directions.

"You sure you know what you're doing?"

"How hard can it be?" Ruby pushed Weiss' head down over the sink. Weiss winced as the cold goop was spread over her hair. It was like washing her hair with salad dressing.

"Hurry up."

"You have a lot of hair."

"It feels gross."

"Don't rush me." Ruby rinsed her hands in the sink. She splashed some water over Weiss' greasy hair.

"Okay, it just needs a few minutes to set." Ruby wrapped a large towel over Weiss' shoulders and steered her to the bedroom. Karai plopped down next to her, liquid eyeliner in hand.

"Standard or feline?"

Weiss sighed. "Whatever you want."

The two sisters sat in silence for a minute as Karai applied the wand with an expert hand. Weiss knew that on Earth Karai wore garish make up and hideous clothes. But half a year in Vale seemed to improve her tastes somewhat. She hoped.

"Is this your first sleepover," she whispered.

"Yeah."

"Mine too." She grinned. "It's more fun than I thought it would be."

"That remains to be seen."

Karai recapped her wand. "Done." She pulled away to get a better look, then did a double take. A small snicker escaped her lips before she clamped her hand over her mouth.

"What?"

"Um, Ruby," she called out, "how much dye did you use?"

"Why?"

Weiss felt her stomach drop as Karai held out a mirror. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched Weiss storm over to the bathroom door. She stood over her partner in 5' 2'' of pure fury. Ruby grinned sheepishly. "Well, you were in a hurry so I guess I didn't set it long-"

"My hair is blue! IT'S BLUE!"

Karai couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. She leaned back on the bed cackling while Weiss locked herself in the bathroom for a good twenty minutes.

* * *

Mona Lisa passed the bottle of beer to Weiss. "Truth or dare?"

Weiss took a tiny sip. Her makeup was wiped off and a large towel was wrapped tightly around her head. "Truth."

"Ever gone to class without a bra?"

Weiss glared at her. "Once, I forgot."

"Really," said Yang. "I didn't notice."

Weiss passed the beer to Coco. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Drink a raw egg."

Everyone watched as Coco cracked an egg from the mini fridge into a red plastic cup. She sat back down and took a swig of beer. Then, holding her nose, she poured the yolk down her throat. Gagging, she passed the beer to Karai.

"Truth or-"

"Dare."

Coco grinned. "Okay. I dare you to. . ." She thought for a second, eyes circling the room before glancing at Violet. Karai knew she was still mad about that stupid sunglasses incident. "Kiss your team leader."

"What!?"

"If her highness doesn't mind, that is."

"You're both descendants of royalty," Velvet pointed out. "A couple hundred years ago you two might have been married off to stop a war."

Coco was grinning like a Cheshire cat as Violet's face was turning red. Karai was just as embarrassed, but she was never one to back down from a challenge. She downed what little was left of the bottle by this point. She took Violet's face in her hands. Her partner's eyes widen for a second before closing. Karai leaned her head down just a bit. It's as if she knew exactly what to do. Their faces hovered inches apart for a moment.

Then they kissed.

Later Karai would watch a video Yang took. She would see that the kiss only lasted about seven seconds. But it felt a lot longer. Every second was magnified by every touch, sensation. She felt Violet's hands on her waist, her beautiful red curls tickling her cheeks, her lavender perfume seeping into her clothes. But at the same time, she couldn't really register these things. She was having trouble remembering her own name.

They broke away suddenly. Both girls turned away from each other, flustered and a bit out of breath. Karai grabbed the bottle, forgetting for a second that it was empty.

"Wow Goodwitch, I didn't know you had it in you," Coco said.

"If you guys ever do anything, text us in advance," Sapphire joked.

"Put a sock on the door. That's what I do," Yang said.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "When have you done that?"

"Well, let's see-"

"Okay, next person." Ruby was turning red now. Blake handed a beer to Karai, who handed it to Pyhrra.

"Truth or dare?"

* * *

It was two in the morning. Everyone was asleep, or pretending to be asleep anyway. Karai didn't know if Violet was still awake and starring out at the broken moon like her. They picked spots on opposite sides of the room.

She put her fingertips to her lips once again, remembering the feel of the kiss. For all her lessons in seduction, she had only kissed a few boys. Before tonight she had never kissed a girl. Maybe it was just because it was Violet, but what happened tonight made Karai question whether she had even liked boys at all.

Even Leo.

Or maybe it was just Violet. Because all that dare really did was force Karai to admit to herself what she had been denying for months. She liked Violet. She really liked Violet.

But there were so many problems. Karai was still Japanese and a kunoichi. There were traditions that must be followed. Her clan didn't even like her now. If she had a girlfriend she might as well just never go back to Earth ever again.

Even if she could that ignore that, there was the oh so large issue of them sharing a dorm room. It would be incredibly awkward, not just for them but for Mona Lisa and Sapphire. Their ability to function as a team could suffer.

And really, Violet and she had nothing in common. She was smart. Brilliant. She was a member of a book club and went to art galleries and played chess. As the daughter of the vice principal, she so law abiding she practically memorized the school hand book and meticulous to the point where she dusted the door frame. And she was kind. Violet was kind to everyone, but not like some people. Karai never felt that her teammate thought she needed saving or that she was already a lot cause. Violet saw her as a teammate and a friend.

But Violet didn't know about past. Even on the off chance she liked her back now, if Violet ever found out she was rooming with a criminal raised by a merciless war lord, she would run for the hills. Better to just ignore what was probably just a temporary crush.

Karai touched her lips again and sighed. Easier said than done.


	29. Straying from the story

With a week left before finals and students about to arrive for the tournament, Beacon Academy was abuzz with activity. The East Dorms were being vacuumed, flyers for study break events with free school supplies were posted everywhere and rumors were going around that there might be a shortage of coffee. Of course no one took that seriously; their headmaster would never allow such a thing.

Several professors extended their office hours in order to fit in time for all their students. So instead of eating the lunch his wife made in the teachers' lounge, Dr. Oobleck was munching on his chicken salad sandwich while going over Karai's final draft.

"I see you focused on tales of knights and heroes of legend." He kept reading while she talked, only pausing to write a comment or take a sip of coffee.

"Well I figured it made sense, you know, considering Huntsmen and Huntresses used to be called knights. These figures are essentially Huntsmen prototypes." Karai took a sip of her own coffee. Thanks to finals she was going on six hours of sleep a night.

"Does Earth have similar stories?"

"Yes, but they vary between cultures. In Japan samurai value obedience, while Western knights seemed to focus more on religious piety, at least in the olden days. Plus there were hardly any stories about women taking up a sword and fighting in either of those cultures."

Dr. Oobleck turned to the last page. "You have a long bibliography." He looked up and smiled at her. "And even without that, your paper is at least a page longer than I asked. You really seemed to put a lot effort into this Karai."

"I don't believe in doing things half-heartedly." Karai didn't notice that she had crossed her legs exactly like Weiss.

"And what do you think, my dear girl, are the qualities that make a noble knight?"

"Strength and courage, obviously. They need to be exceptionally skilled fighters. Strategy. Authority. Compassion. And of course honor."

"Honor?"

"Keeping one's word, not attacking the innocent. I think a noble knight doesn't have to fight fair, though."

Dr. Oobleck raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Care to elaborate?"

"If your opponent is a threat to you or someone else, or did something despicable, you should be allowed to use whatever means necessary to bring them down. If a White Fang member was attacking an innocent, would stabbing them in the back be that bad?"

"Anything else?"

Karai thought for a moment. She looked down at her coffee, watching the steam rise to make fleeting patterns.

"Optimism," she said at last. "Hope. Maybe even a bit of naiveté. Someone who thinks even the enemy has a shot at redemption, deserves mercy."

"A simple soul?"

Karai looked up, surprised. She had almost forgotten that proverb. "Yeah. A simple, honest soul."

Dr. Oobleck nodded. "I do believe I have met a few people like that in my life."

* * *

"So have I."

Meanwhile in Vale, preparations were in full swing. Balloons in green, yellow and red were tied up in bunches or strung over the streets near the inner harbor. A man was hanging up a sign reading "Welcome to Vale." The water busy with activity as ships unloaded people and supplies.

"The Vytal festival. Oh this is absolutely wonderful." Weiss clasped her hands together, a dreamy smile on her face.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss. It's kind of weirding me out," Ruby said.

"How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world. There will be dances, parades, a tournament. Oh the amount of planning and organization that goes into this even is simply breathe taking." She was the only one on her team that attended the last Vytal festival four years ago in Atlas. She more than anyone knew how complicated and perfectly timed this all was. Just the fireworks alone probably required three PowerPoint presentations.

"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring,"

"Quiet you."

As team RWBY meandered around the docks, Mona Lisa was sitting on a bench nearby, talking on her scroll.

"Why didn't you just take an airship like the rest of the people in your school?" She listened for a moment, frowning. "I don't care if you had a bet-wait, how did you pay for a boat ride to Vale?" Mona Lisa started swearing, not caring who was around. "God damn it Sun, why is it every time you do something stupid I-" she paused. "Okay, fine. I'll meet you there. But if you get arrested on the way I'm not bailing you out." She nodded. "Yeah, love you too, bye."

Mona Lisa quickly walked down the block and turned the corner. "Cousins," she muttered.

* * *

Violet was pacing the length of her dorm room. It was two weeks until her birthday. She honestly didn't know if she would rather freeze time or speed it up.

Sapphire calmly watched Violet descend into the depths of existential madness while practicing her plies on the metal bar she nailed across the window.

"What if he's dead?" Violet froze for a second. "What if he's dead and she couldn't bring herself to tell me?"

"Maybe. But she would probably think getting your hopes up is worse." Sapphire extended leg behind her, one arm high above her head.

"Or what if he faked his own death? And she doesn't want anyone to know he's still alive?"

"So she could have just told you his name and that he was dead."

Violet sat on her bed. She hugged her pillow against her chest. Finally she would be getting the answers she waited for since forever. Every emotion in existence was pulsing through her.

Karai walked in through the door holding a cup of tea. She sat down so close to her that Violet could feel her arm brush against hers.

Okay, _now_ she was feeling every emotion in existence.

"Black tea usually helps my nerves."

"Thanks." Violet took a small sip. She looked down at the cup so she wouldn't have to look at her partner. This wasn't the time to think about the kiss or whatever they may or may not have. One freak out at a time. Sapphire plopped down on Violet's other side and wrapped an arm around her.

"Whatever happens, we're here for you."

"And in the end it doesn't matter who your father is. Your destiny is yours to right." Karai smiled at her, amber eyes shining. Violet looked away, thanking both of them while trying not to blush.

"Hey Karai," Sapphire said in an obvious attempt to change the subject, "I love your new bracelets." Instead of her regular arm guards, Karai was wearing silver bracelets with intricate carvings.

"They're beautiful," Violet said. And not her style at all.

"Thanks." She smiled in that feline way that usually meant trouble of some kind. Violet figured she probably stole them from Weiss to bug her.

"You know," Sapphire went on, "after exams would be the perfect time to go shopping. We'll have two weeks to do whatever."

"Like sleep." Karai laid back on Violet's bed. Her hands went behind her head. "Winter break, our saving grace."

Violet shook her head. "Before we relax, we have to get through finals. We're going to spy on the TCRI Sunday, so tonight we're studying."

"What about meeting Mona Lisa's cousin?" Sapphire got up to continue stretching.

"We're meeting him tomorrow."

* * *

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem."

"That is the problem."

Weiss and Blake had been arguing for two hours now. Since they saw that robbery, Blake had been actually defending a group of terrorists, not to mention a stowaway. Weiss was having a difficult time understanding why someone training to uphold the law would side with blatant criminals.

"You realize that you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The Fanus of the White Fang are pure evil." Not to mention a stowaway. Blake had been arguing with Weiss for two hours now since they saw the robbery crime scene. Ruby and Yang refused to get involved. Weiss was having a difficult time understanding why someone training to uphold the law would side with blatant criminals.

"There's no such thing as pure evil." Blake jumped up. "Why do you _think_ they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like _you_ , that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures."

"People like me?" What did she do? She never pushed someone in a locker.

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!" How dare she! Weiss took a deep breathe, steadying herself. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Fanus?" She moved over to the window, looking out at the full moon. "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed."

_11 year old Weiss manages to sneak a newspaper from the maid while she's dusting. She runs into her room and locks the door. Sinking into the carpet, she sits alone in her room, and reads._

" _38 year old Nathanial Grey Found Dead Last Night. Foul Play Suspected."_

_Underneath the headline is a blurry photo a reporter managed to take from behind the tape. The Atlas police are carrying a body bag. Another one is taking away the gun Uncle Nate had on his mantel. Weiss knew it was never loaded. They must have used something else._

"My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I saw family friends disappear. Board members, executed. An entire train car of Dust, stolen." Weiss didn't see Blake's expression at the moment, the way her eyes softened and her lips quivered just a bit. If she did, she would have known that she lost people too.

"And every night, my father would come home furious. And that made for very. Difficult. Childhood." She slammed her fist against the bookshelf.

_Frost Schnee slams his 13 year old daughter against the dining room wall. His growl sounds almost inhuman._

" _Don't talk back to me, young lady! I will not be questioned by my own daughter. I know what is right and I will not tolerate impertinence!" He abruptly let go of her. Weiss tries to stop shaking as he took his glass of wine and sipped it._

" _I have made myself clear." He turned to go._

" _But Father-"_

_Schnee threw his glass in her direction. The dark red wine stained the wall like the blood that dripped down Weiss' cheek. She did not cry out. She merely watched him leave the room before going to get the first aid kit._

_Tears never helped._

Ruby put a hand on her shoulder. "Weiss, I-"

"No!" She brushed her hand away. Then she turned to Blake. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars. Thieves. And murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"

In that moment of silence, one could hear a heart skipping a beat.

"I. . ." Blake darted out of the room.

"Blake, wait! Come back!"


	30. Target Tang Karai

The line at the Beacon coffee shop snaked around the tables Sunday morning as sleep deprived students waited for yet another shot of expresso. Some extra studious people were reading their notes as they waited. But it was a bit hard to concentrate, what with Mona Lisa yelling into her phone.

"Just what the hell are you up to? 'Visiting friends.' You don't even know anyone in Vale." She listened for a moment, ignoring the irritated stares of people in front of her. "And who is this girl-okay fine, don't tell me. I don't care." Pause. "Fine, but if you don't show up I'm calling the cops. Okay, yeah, bye."

First Sun stows away on a boat because of a damn bet. Now he's playing dashing thief boy for some random girl he met on the street, who didn't even sound like she was very interested in the first place. Well at the very least Mona Lisa was in for a hell of a story tomorrow.

* * *

"The Cross Continental Treaty-"

"Signed at the end of the Great War in Mystral, it outlined trade agreements between the kingdoms as well as outside groups, mapped out kingdom borders, gave Fanus equal rights and allowed freedom of expression." Karai grinned. She and Violet were in the library studying before their stakeout.

"Good," Violet said. She filled through her notebook. "The CCT-"

"Made by Atlas after the war, they allow clear communication between the kingdoms in order to promote peace."

"Excellent. You might actually get an A."

"All thanks to you."

Violet smiled softly and tucked a lock of fiery red hair behind her ear. Karai felt her face go red when she found herself thinking about how her hair felt that night. She flipped through her notes randomly.

"Don't underestimate yourself. You're really smart."

Before Karai could say anything, her scroll went off. "It's Weiss, I should take this."

"Sure, we could use a little break anyway."

Karai stepped out into the hallway. She hadn't talked to Weiss all weekend. As much as she didn't want to, maybe she should ask her sister for advice. Weiss knew more about dating in Remnant, and from what Karai could tell she might even be in the same boat. "Hey, what's up?"

"Where are you? Are you alone?"

She glanced down each side of the corridor. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

"I need to talk to you, but you can't tell anyone."

"Okay." It wasn't like she didn't have experience keeping secrets.

"Blake is a member of the White Fang."

"Huh." Karai leaned against the wall. She hadn't figured her sister to be one for gossip.

"HUH!? My teammate is a terrorist, and you say huh?"

"Well I already figured out she was a Fanus-"

"What?"

"Her bow, Weiss. Haven't you seen it twitch? Plus she never takes it off."

". . .Oh." Although she couldn't see it, Karai guessed that Weiss was mentally kicking herself right now. After all, she was the one raised in Remnant, she should notice this stuff.

"And Blake always seemed like the insufferable crusader against injustice type. It's not that much of a stretch." Karai yawned. Besides History, she had Grimmology and Weapons Mechanics tests to study for today. It wasn't as if she knew this ninja wannabe that well anyway.

"Injustice? Do you know what the White Fang have done to my family's company?"

"Do you know what your family's company has done to the Fanus?" There was silence on the other end. "Look, do you think Blake's still part of them now?"

"No," Weiss said automatically. "She sounded like she disagreed with their actions."

"Did she ever try to hurt you, the Schnee Heiress?"

"Of course not."

"Well it sounds to me like she just wants a fresh start. And if I can have one, don't you think she deserves one too?"

More silence. "You still there?"

"I have to go. Yang wants to check the record store."

"Okay. Let me know if you need any help."

"Thanks, Karai."

"Wait, before you go-" beep went her scroll. Call ended.

Oh well, she probably wouldn't have been much help anyway.

* * *

The waitress set down the tea slowly, not so subtly checking out Sun's abs. If he noticed, he didn't say anything.

"Let me know if they'll be anything else."

They thanked her. Blake took a small sip, as silent as she was yesterday. Sun glanced over the balcony at the street below. Workmen were putting up welcome signs near the water and kids were playing with leftover balloons. People with luggage were hailing taxis. A boy played guitar in front of any empty case. Sun made a mental note to throw in a few lien.

"Vale sure is going all out for the festival. It's like a carnival here." He glanced at the table next to them. "Only food isn't as high class."

Blake's mouth twitched into a little smile. They sat for another few minutes, watching people go about their day.

"So," she said, putting her cup down, "you want to know more about me."

* * *

"Eat it bubblegum!" Mona Lisa stood at the center of the research lab, in front of a sealed vat of mutagen. The dimly lit room was lit up by the plasma rays she blasted at the Kraang coming at her. She ducked right as a blast came from a ledge above her and saw a droid fall from a ledge, throwing star in its back.

"Thanks," she called out.

"No problem," Karai said as she darted around the room slicing up Kraang bots like sushi.

Team VKSM _had_ planned to only spy on the Kraang. But sometimes the best laid plans go awry. Sometimes a teammate accidently hits an alarm while she's adjusting her hat. Sometimes a bunch of aliens show up with laser cannons and bad syntax. Sometimes it's better to just rush in guns blazing, because whatever secret plans evil jellyfish are cooking up probably deserve to be shot first examined later.

It wasn't going that bad at first. Violet cracked her whip against the nearest cannon and sent an electrical charge straight to the heart of the circuit board. Sapphire fired arrow after arrow at enemy robots, never missing a target, while Karai and Mona Lisa were slashing and smashing left and right. Compared to their initiation this was a simple training exercise.

Until the Chrome Dome.

That was what Karai thought she heard Michelangelo call it, anyway. She was too busy trying to kill April at the time to pay attention.

Sapphire immediately shot an arrow at the robot's head. The explosion circled its head like a demonic halo. The robot, undeterred, drew its laser sword and swung it at Sapphire's head. She ducked and teleported behind the robot while Violet cracked her whip. Chrome Dome just grabbed her whip and sent it and her flying.

"I have a plan," Karai said. "Cover me."

Sapphire lured the robot to the bridge above the vat while Karai used her grappling hook to climb up to the metal rods on the ceiling. The robot was too distracted to notice her. Sapphire shot three arrow at Chrome Dome. It dodged two and caught the third in its hand right out of midair. The robot snapped the arrow in two, not even flinching at the force of the explosion. Holding her staff in a defensive position, Sapphire stood her ground as Chrome Dome charged at her like a Beowulf.

When the robot was directly under Karai, she unceremoniously jumped down and snatched the sword right out if its hand. Then with a single strike she cut the robot in two. It fell off the bridge, landing at Mona Lisa's feet in a heap.

Mona Lisa smiled up at her. "Not bad, princess."

"Wait till you see me when I'm actually trying." Karai threw herself over the railing, but someone roughly pulled her back before she could jump down.

"Where do you think you're going, little one?"

* * *

" . . .I mean, the only way to prove that they didn't do it is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there. Right?" Sun hoped that what he just said made as much sense out loud as it did in his head.

"The only thing is, I have no idea where that would be."

"Well, when I was on the ship I heard some guys talking about off-loading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."

"How huge?"

"Huge." Sun opened his arms wide."Big Schnee company freighter."

"You're sure?" He grinned. She looked cute when she was being so inquisitive. And here Mona Lisa thought he was being dumb. By tomorrow he would probably solve a huge Dust-robbery crime ring. The tournament didn't even start yet and Sun was already having a blast.

* * *

Karai immediately tried to wrest her arm out of the Tiger Claw's grip, to no avail. He just picked her up by her arm like a ragdoll. Sapphire teleported to the mutant while the others raced up the stairs. She swung her staff at his head, but he grabbed it and threw Sapphire and her weapon against the metallic wall.

"Master Shredder will be most pleased to see you again, Karai."

"Shredder? Karai, what's he talking about?" Karai couldn't bring herself to look at her teammate as she struggled to lift herself up.

"Get your hands off her." Violet stood at the end of the bridge, gun aimed at Tiger Claw's head. He laughed.

"If you want the girl to live, go no further."

"Just go," Karai yelled. "Get Sapphire and get out of here."

"We're not leaving you." Violet pressed her finger against the trigger. Tiger Claw lifted Karai's chin with a single claw, forcing her to look up at her teammates. She winced at the pressure against her vein and at her friends' horrified expressions.

"I'll be fine. Trust me."

Reluctantly the two girls lowered their guns. Tiger Claw pulled out a smoke bomb. Violet, Sapphire and Mona Lisa could only watch helplessly as their friend literally disappeared into thin air.


	31. Black, white and silver

Karai struggled uselessly against her handcuffs. She was chained to a wall, locked up in some Kraang stealth ship in a freaking cell for the umpteenth time. Only this time she had a plan, a good plan, if only she could get free.

"Don't make things worse for yourself, girl."

Tiger Claw stood in the doorway. He smirked as she tugged against the chains. At that moment she'd give anything to break free and kick that tailess mutant's ass.

"I've already disarmed you. Even if you could get free, you wouldn't make it very far."

Karai snarled. "How did you even know I was here?"

"I overheard the Kraang talk of you when I was at one of their facilities. With a little persuasion, I learned where the old witch took you."

Stupid Kraang. At least they didn't know who or where her grandmother was. "Why does Shredder need me anyway? I'll never rejoin the Foot. Not after this." Just the thought of going back to New York, captive of the man she once called her father, made her sick.

"Don't be so sure. Master Shredder has his ways."

She knew that. And she knew that he wouldn't hesitate to use them, even on own his daughter.

And she wasn't his daughter.

* * *

"Welcome to Tuskon's Book Trade. Home to every book under the sun."

"Hi, we're looking for a friend of ours and were wondering if you've seen her." Yang held out her scroll and showed Blake's school photo.

Weiss watched the man peer at the picture for a moment. She was surprised just how disappointed she felt when he said he didn't recognize her.

Weiss and Yang headed down the street. They had a couple more places to check out before calling it a night. Weiss didn't know if Yang was wondering how they were going to explain Blake's absence, or what they would do if she just never came back. Because deep down the three of them had no idea if they would ever see her again.

Blake had never been friendly, by anyone's definition. But the same could be said about Weiss. Besides the first day they met, there were never any real issues between them. Blake was serious, definitely more so than Ruby or Yang and obviously less annoying. She never talked much about her past, but she didn't ask Weiss about hers either. Whenever there was a problem, whether it was a case of stage fright or a missing sister, Blake had always gave her quiet, thoughtful support.

And Weiss should have done the same.

Because she knew that her teammate, her sister and everyone else was right. Her father's practices were ruining families and lives. Weiss came to Beacon to try to make up for what he did, but instead she just made things worse.

"Hey, Weiss?"

"What?"

"Are you listening?

"Sorry, I just zoned out. What were you-"

_BOOM!_

Yang and Weiss could see smoke in the distance, near the water.

"You don't think. . ." Weiss stopped. She didn't think, she knew. The two girls raced down the street, heading to the source of the explosion. And Blake.

* * *

The Kraang stealth ship suddenly veered sharply to the right. Karai was slammed against the wall.

"Kraang requests help from Kraang. There is an energy blast from the place known as the docks."

So they were flying over the docks now. Well whatever was going on, perhaps she could use it to her advantage.

* * *

Violet, Sapphire and Mona Lisa scoured the docks, trying to find some trace of the Kraang.

"I don't get it. Who was that tiger guy?" Sapphire teleported to the top of a crate, searching the loading area below. "And how does he know her?"

"Well we all knew our little ninja had some secrets." Mona Lisa climbed up the crate to stand next to her. "I just didn't think they involved the Kraang and their mutagen."

"And what about 'Master Shredder?' I mean with a name like that, he has to be bad news."

"Maybe he's the leader of the Kraang?"

"Right now we need to focus on finding Karai," Violet said. "We'll question her later."

Violet jumped from one crate to another just as something exploded on the other side of the docks, causing the shipping crates to shake violently. She would have fallen if Sapphire hadn't caught her arm.

"What was that," Sapphire asked.

Mona Lisa swore under her breathe. "I have a hunch. You guys keep searching, I'll check it out."

"Wait-" but she left before Violet could finish.

* * *

Sun leaped down from the crate and landed a drop kick right to that Torchwick guy's head.

"Leave her alone."

A bunch of White Fang goons armed with swords and guns jumped down from the airship. Torchwick smirked.

"You are not the brightest banana in the bunch are you kid?" How original. Like he hadn't heard that one before.

Sun punched one goon out with his bare hands, kicking to others to the ground. Then he whipped out his staff and beat down the rest of the lackeys without breaking a sweat. Torchwick blasted his cane, and Blake decided that was her cue.

"He's mine!" The sounds of swords striking and rapid gun fire echoed through the dock as the two teens fought off the head of a crime ring. It looked like the tide had turned, until Torchwick shot the crane holding huge crate. Sun dove to the ground, narrowly missing being crushed. He heard a snicker behind him.

And came face to face with the barrel of Torchwick's gun.

"Hey!"

They both looked up to see a bright plasma blast shot Torchwick right in the face. While he was distracted, Mona Lisa grabbed Sun roughly by the arm.

"Hey cuz."

"Don't hey cuz me. I have enough to deal with right now without having to save your sorry ass."

"Mona Lisa?" Blake looked from one Fanus to the other.

"And you. I swear Blake, if I found him hurt I would be shooting you too."

BAM. A gun shot hit Mona Lisa with enough force to knock her out. Torchwick stood over her, laughing manically, only to be cut off by Sun's gun-chucks rapidly firing with deadly precision.

No one messed with his cousin.

* * *

Tiger Claw opened the cell door. "There has been an explosion. It could be an attack."

"Oh, really? I didn't notice."

Tiger Claw growled. "Master Shredder wants you alive, unharmed." He unlocked her handcuffs, not noticing her silver bracelet glow red.

Karai just gave him her most wicked grin. She snatched her arm away and Tiger Claw's one good eye widened in horror as a ball of fire appeared in her hand. For a moment she held the fire in her hand, letting it light up the darkened cell. And then, like the woman who took her six months ago, Karai blasted Tiger Claw against the wall.

"If Shredder wants me, he's gonna have to face me himself."

Tiger Claw got up almost instantly. He lunged at her, but Karai nimbly ducked to the side. She adjusted her bracelets. The red glow turned blue. Karai hit the floor with her hand and ice shot up from the floor. It encased Tiger Claw's legs, leaving him immobile.

"Such cheap tricks are not fitting for a kunoichi." He fired a laser gun at her. Karai blocked it Wonder Woman style.

"I'm not a kunoichi anymore."

Her bracelets turned red again. But instead of a ball of fire, a sword of flames appeared in her hands.

"I'm a Huntress."

With a roar, Karai struck down the greatest assassin in all of Asia with a single blow.

* * *

Ruby and Penny watched the battle from a nearby rooftop. Blake, Mona Lisa and the boy from the boat were fighting Roman Torchwick and several members of the White Fang.

"Ruby, are these people your friends?"

"Penny get back." Ruby didn't see Torchwick aim his cane at her. The gunshot threw her to the ground.

Penny narrowed her eyes. She stepped to the edge of the roof.

"Penny wait, stop!"

"Don't worry Ruby. I'm combat ready."

* * *

At the bridge of the ship, several Krang were running around in a panic. They became even more panicked when Karai blasted open the door. Their laser cannons were effortlessly blocked by a silver shield of runes.

The Kraang bots looked at each other. A few tried to sneak behind her to the door. Karai leapt to the center of the room and crossed her wrists in front of her. Circles of silver runes surrounded her. She opened her arms and energy shot out in every direction. All the Kraang bots were knocked off their feet and short circuited.

Including the ones piloting the ship.

Kuso.

Karai ran to the control station. A bunch of identical looking pink buttons lit up the panel. She had no idea which one did what, so she just started pushing them randomly. The ship dropped sharply. Through the window she could see a bunch of crates and boats below. It looked like the ship was barely flying above the boats below.

"The mode known as stealth is that which is known as disengaged."

Great. The last thing she needed was a bunch of people freaking out about seeing an alien space ship. Then again, they were at the docks. There couldn't be that many people there this time of night. Karai pushed more buttons. The escape pods popped open, the door shut halfway, a kind of homing beacon went off. But the ship stayed the course.

Which wouldn't have been that bad. But then an airship suddenly came into view. It looked like it was trying to fly away, but was stuck. Almost as if invisible strings were holding it in place. Karai tried to steer out of the way, but the Kraang controls weren't listening.

And just in case she thought it was too easy, she heard metal crunching behind her. Followed by a feline roar.

In her hand Karai materialized throwing stars made out of ice. They didn't even slow him down. Tiger Claw leapt across the bridge in a single step. He hit the floor so hard it sent shock waves through the metal.

"Thought you could escape me?"

"Well it would be stupid to say yes now."

The assassin unsheathed his sword. He lunged at her, only to see the airship in their path.

"This will have to be settled back on Earth, little one."

He ducked into an escape pod, but Karai didn't budge. "Come quickly girl. Do you want to die?"

"Better to die with honor than be forced to serve my enemy." Plus her Aura level was high enough that she probably would survive. Faking her death was probably her best option at the moment.

He growled. "So be it." The door slammed shut and the escape pod was ejected into the night.

Karai did nothing but watch the airship grow bigger and bigger as the spaceship flew down faster and faster. She grabbed onto a railing and closed her eyes, bracing for impact. Metal crashed against metal.

Everything went black.

* * *

Ruby watched Penny pull an airship down with puppet strings. The girl pulled the ship like it weighed next to nothing.

"Woah. How is she doing that?" Ruby was so amazed she didn't even notice the other ship. It was only when Penny was jerked to the side that she realized that the ship she was holding was hit by a strange, spherical ship that literally appeared out of nowhere.

Everyone on both sides stopped fighting to watch the two ships crash into the harbor. They hit the water hard. Small waves splashed on the docks, spraying everyone in the area. Except for Mona Lisa, who grabbed her scroll and ran towards the city.

Torchwick took advantage of the distraction to escape. "Everything just keeps getting weirder," he mumbled.

Another figure shrouded in darkness also escaped the scene. Tiger Claw stopped running only for a moment to look back at the downed ship. Those aliens were resilient, but there was no way that girl could have survived. He growled.

Master Shredder would not be pleased.

* * *

Violet, Sapphire and Mona Lisa walked back to their room in silence. Each girl was lost in the misery of her own thoughts. The girls didn't know if Karai had been on that Kraang ship, but they had spent the next hour combing the city. She wasn't anywhere they could think of. In the morning they would have to tell the teachers, but what would they tell them? And what could any of them-even Professor Ozpin-do?

Sapphire opened the door a crack and froze at the sound of familiar cursing. She threw the door wide open and lo and behold there was Karai alive and bending over in pain.

"Look, let me explain-" Karai winced as her three teammates hugged her aching body until she could barely breath. Their questions about how she was and what happened were ignored. Instead Karai sat herself down on her bed.

"It's time I told you guys the truth." She forced herself to look each of her teammates in the eye.

"My name isn't Tang Karai. And I'm not from Remnant."

* * *

The Vale police were officially calling the crashed ship a government military experiment gone loose. Weiss didn't buy it. Earth had some pretty strange technology, and if there were other planets out there they probably weren't any less odd. But she marched past the police tape without giving what was left of the wreckage a second glance. Instead Weiss and Yang walked right over to where their teammates, Penny and that no good hooligan were sitting.

"Look Weiss it's not what you think she explained the whole thing. She explained the whole thing. You see she doesn't have a bow she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute." Weiss ignored Ruby and faced her runaway teammate.

"Weiss, I want you to know I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with them-"

"Stop. Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?"

Blake was taken back. She didn't expect a question like this.

"12 hours," Weiss answered. "That means I've had 12 hours to think about this. And, in that 12 hours, I've decided I don't care."

Blake's jaw dropped open. "You don't care?"

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

"No, I haven't been since-"

Weiss held up her hand to stop her. She didn't think she could stand to listen to details. "Uh uh, I don't want to hear it. I just want to know that the next time something this big comes up, you come to your teammates. And not some-" she stopped herself "someone else."

Blake wiped a tear from her eye. "Of course."

Weiss actually smiled. And Ruby was right, it did look kind of creepy. But it didn't matter. Team RWBY was back together.

* * *

"So I climbed out of the wreckage and made my way back to Beacon." Karai rubbed the back of her neck. She was definitely going to feel this tomorrow.

"How are you feeling," Mona Lisa asked.

"I've been through worse." Karai sighed.

"I just wanted to say that, I won't blame you guys if you want a different teammate. And I'm sorry for misleading you. But I want you guys to know you are the best-well, first-friends I ever had. I honestly don't think I could have made it through this semester without you. And. . .thank you."

"A different teammate?" Sapphire frowned. "Why would we ask for a different teammate?"

"I made it clear I'm a bad person."

"No, you made it clear you did some bad things. There's a difference." Violet sat next to Karai on her bed. "I have my own little confession to make. I knew all along."

"You what?"

"I hacked the school secret database at the beginning of the year. I wanted to find out about my father. Instead, I kind of managed to look up your file."

Mona Lisa whistled. "The part where you hacked the school server is honestly the most shocking part of the evening."

"Wait, you knew this whole time?"

Violet shrugged. "I figured you'd tell us when you were ready." She laughed at her partner's shocked face. "You're not the first one to come to Beacon with a sketchy past."

"And obviously the rest of us have less than pure motivations." Mona Lisa plopped down on her own bed.

"It doesn't matter why we came here," Violet continued. "We're here to protect the people. Our own motivations really don't matter."

Karai sighed. "My whole life was mapped out for me, and then all of a sudden my life is a lie. So I wanted a completely new one. All my life everyone has either seen me as a villain or a victim. I wanted to see what it would be like to be the hero for once. Or at least someone a little nicer."

"Learning to be a hero takes time. To be kind person, you need to be shown kindness. And it doesn't sound like you were." Violet took Karai's hand. "But we can fix that."

"You already have." Violet hugged her.

Mona Lisa came over and ruffled her hair."Team VKSM forever."

Sapphire leaned against her bar. She'd been quiet most of the night. Now she raised her hand nervously.

"So, you're an actual ninja?"

"I was raised as a kunoichi, a female ninja. Like a Huntress is a female Huntsman."

Sapphire clasped her hands together like a prayer. "Would you teach me how to be one? Like hand to hand combat, throwing stars, smoke screens? Please?"

Karai laughed. "Only if you throw out Ninjas of Love."

"What? Why?"

"That book is an insult to ninjitsu."

"And grammar," Violet added.

"Hey, Mona Lisa reads comics-"

"Graphic novels. And they're awesome." The two girls started arguing. Violet shushed them, it was quiet hours after all.

"It's not like either one of them are real books anyway," Karai said.

"Says the girl who reads a children's storybook before bed."

Karai chucked her pillow at Mona Lisa's face. "Bitch!"

"Whore!"

"Guys, quiet!" There was a thump on the wall as the guys next door yelled at them to keep it down. "See?"

"Lighten up, Vi." Mona Lisa grabbed the pillow off the floor and whacked her in the face. Violet grabbed Karai's other pillow and threw it at her. And so a shocking, heart wrenching confession dissolved into teenage hysterics.

Karai just laughed. She knew she wasn't a real Huntress quite yet. The next three and a half years-hell, the next two weeks-were not going to be easy. But she knew she could get through it. She had her family.

"Quit it!" Violet held her arms up to protect her head as Mona Lisa beat her with her own pillow. While they were distracted, Sapphire calmly threw a blanket over their heads. Mona Lisa shrieked and tripped on a jacket.

"Hey," a guy's voice yelled through the walls. "What's going on in there?"

"Stop yelling," Karai shouted back. "Don't you know it's quiet hours?"

The boy's curses were drowned out by team VKSM's laughter.

Karai had her family. And she had her clan.


	32. Changes in the wind

"Ow! Quit stabbing me." Karai glared down from the stool she was perched on like a doll on a pedestal.

"Hold still god damn it," Coco responded. She knelt on the floor of her dorm room, putting on the finishing touches on what she called "one of her greatest works." Mona Lisa and Velvet were talking about a movie while Sapphire, who was used to fittings, watched sympathetically.

Karai had done a lot of stupid things in her life, but letting Coco Adel use her like a mannequin really took the cake. Her teammates insisted she needed something new to wear to match her new weaponized bracelets, and she was too relieved that her friends didn't hate her and finals were over to protest. But when she mentioned that she really didn't like a lot of the stuff in Valian stores, Sapphire just asked Coco for help. Karai figured she would have been better keeping her mouth shut.

"Ow!"

"Stop squirming Tang."

It was the first day of winter break. Exams were thankfully over and Team VKSM planned to spend the next two weeks catching up on sleep. Well, except for Violet. Professor Goodwitch took her daughter to their house Vale this morning. It was probably a better place to talk about her long lost father, but Karai already missed her partner's incessant nagging. But at least there would be nothing to stop her from spending the next two weeks doing nothing.

"You're doing this on-ow!"

"Almost done." Karai could hear the smile in Coco's voice.

Of course she couldn't actually say she missed Violet, of course. Thanks to that stupid sleepover there was a rumor going around that the two girls were dating. Even Sapphire and Mona Lisa smirked whenever they were sitting close together or lying in each other's beds. Both girls just blushed and denied everything, but Karai noticed Violet didn't deny it that hard. She didn't know what that meant.

"It's done. You can turn around now."

"Wow Coco, it looks great." Sapphire said.

Karai glanced at her teammate's blue silk dress with ruffles and petticoats. If Sapphire thought it looked good, she must look like a wedding cake. With a deep breath, she turned around.

She had said upfront she didn't do dresses, didn't do high heels. Coco instead sewed up black leather pants that were surprisingly easy to walk in. Her blood red bodice actually showed cleavage. A black velvet jacket clung to her curves and black ribbon was tied around her neck. Best of all, her knee high silver boots were not only flat but perfect for hiding a dagger or two.

"What do you think," Velvet asked.

It was form fitting and revealing and although Karai had been taught some seduction didn't mean she hadn't spent her life in zipped up leather jackets and ninja armor. But concerns about practicality or modesty really didn't matter in Remnant. Modesty standards were a lot looser and Aura made armor not required. Her outfit made sense in Remnant. It was made for a girl from Remnant

"I like it," Karai said after a few seconds. Her teammates complimented her.

Coco scanned Karai over twice. It made her feel like a cabbage at market. "It needs something."

"Like what," Karai asked.

There was a knock on the open door. Weiss was standing with her arms crossed, staring at her sister with her typical judgmental expression.

"Sup Ice Queen," Mona Lisa called out across the room. Weiss glared at her. She settled down on next to Sapphire and quietly opened her book bag.

"I have them."

"Have what," Velvet asked.

"Our grades." Karai hopped down off the stool, ignoring Coco's protest. "We agreed to open our report cards together to see who did better."

Weiss pulled out two envelops. Karai ripped hers open in seconds. She quickly skimmed the comments until she got to the end.

"91%."

Weiss smirked and held out her paper. Karai could see the giant 97% next to where Professor Port wrote "phenomenal."

"I guess some of us are just naturally gifted."

"Wait till the tournament. We'll see who's gifted." Karai crumpled up her report card. She didn't notice the note Dr. Oobleck wrote: "One of the best essays I've received from a first year."

"They'd never pit siblings against each other," Velvet said.

"Too bad. I'd pay to see that." Mona Lisa got up and stretched. "So Weiss, what do you think of the princess' new clothes?"

"Quit calling me that. I'm no princess."

"It needs something," Coco repeated.

Weiss frowned. "I have an idea." She darted out of the room. In a minute she returned, carrying a small wooden box.

"Grandmother gave this to me. It belonged to our mother."

Karai's jaw almost fell open. Two months ago Weiss didn't even talk to her, and now here she was giving her something like this. Her sister watched as Karai opened the box.

The silver headband laid nestled in faded blue velvet. The delicate silver band shone in the afternoon sun. At the center someone carved a full moon with a crescent moon on each side, and bits of broken moon scattered outward.

"Like I said, someone needs to carry on the Tang family emblem."

"It's beautiful," Karai whispered. The Tang family, a line of kings and mages blessed by the moon. Her mother's line. Her line.

Weiss took the diadem in her hands. Without being told, Karai knelt down. She felt the cool metal on her head, tucking back her now chin length hair. It didn't weigh much. She could get used to it.

The magic of the moment ended when Mona Lisa snorted. "'I'm no princess,' she says."

* * *

Violet paused at the porch of her childhood home. She hadn't come home since school started. Her mother had called her, saying she wanted to talk. Violet knew what she wanted to talk about. What she didn't know was whether or not she wanted to hear it.

Throwing her shoulders back, Violet unlocked the door. "Mom?"

There was no answer.

Violet searched the living room, the kitchen, the dining room. Something felt wrong. Her mother should have been here by now.

A door slammed upstairs. A man in a suit who she never saw before stomped down the stairs in a huff. When he saw her at the bottom of the staircase, he froze in mid step.

"Who are you?" She reached for her weapon. He was probably here to steal silver. Large Dust supplies were kept at school.

"You have red hair." The man took off his sunglasses. His grey eyes seemed to pierce right through her.

Violet's green eyes narrowed. "You didn't answer my question."

"I thought you had black hair." The man was rather calm considering there was a gun pointed at him.

"Wha-if you don't state your name-"

"No one in my family has red hair."

Violet dropped her weapon. The gun hit the wooden floor boards with a bang so loud the neighbors must have heard it.

The man slowly descended the steps. Never taking his eyes off her. He stopped and stooped down to pick up her gun. Like a peace offering he held it out to her.

"Hello Violet."

"D-Dad?"

* * *

" _WHAT?"_

Shredder's lair practically shook from the power of his voice. Razhar and Fish Face bowed low to hide their grins. Tiger Claw, the deadliest assassin in all of Asia, almost showed fear.

"I tried everything I could, Master Shredder. The girl had unnatural powers. I couldn't grab her."

"Xever!" Fish Face stopped smirking. "Tell me again about the woman who took Karai away."

"The witch wore a glowing magic robe. She threw wind and fire balls at us, and then she knocked Karai out and carried her away."

"She is most likely the one who brought her to the other world," Tiger Claw said. "She poisoned Karai's mind-along with the Turtles-and taught her these strange arts."

"And now thanks to her my daughter is dead." Shredder rose from his throne and stomped down the length of the room. His lackeys parted like the red sea. "It seems that I have a new target of revenge. This witch, whoever she is, will pay."

With that, he headed out of the room. Tiger Claw breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

Deep under the city of New York, the Mighty Mutanimals were led in chains through a long tunnel. Despite being led by a "ninja," stealth was not this team's strong suit. No one knew where they were going. The masked figures who caught them weren't saying anything.

At the end of the long hallway was a large wooden door. When one of the figures knocked, it opened by itself. They were led into a brightly lit chamber. It looked like a color contrast of Shredder's lair. White walls and pillars were decorated with silver.

The throne was empty. But standing on the steps in front of it was a young woman in a red dress. Her eyes seemed to glow in the light.

"Well well. It seems as though we have found some spies." She walked around the mutants slowly, looking them up and down. Slash growled.

"If you think we are going to let you invade our world, you got another thing coming."

The woman laughed.

"Oh, do I?"

As she commanded them to be taken away, Rockwell closed his eyes and sent out a telepathic signal.

_We've been captured Donatello._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this story. I'm currently working on the sequel. If you have and suggestions or critiques, I'd love to hear them. Thank you :)


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